When it comes to version control and collaboration in software development, one commonly used term is a ‘pull request’. Integral to enabling a more productive and efficient workflow in programming, understanding the concept of a pull request is crucial for developers and others involved in the software production process. This article aims to demystify the term, explaining clearly what a pull request is and how it is used.
A pull request is a feature unique to distributed version control systems, most notably in GitHub, but it’s also recognized in other similar platforms such as GitLab and BitBucket. In essence, a pull request is a mechanism for a developer to notify their team members that they have completed a feature or fixed a bug on a separate branch and would like this new code to be reviewed and then merged into the main code base.
The name “pull request” comes from the action that you are asking your peers to take. You want them to ‘pull’ your changes onto their version of the code, examine it, and if it passes the review, merge it. In this sense, a pull request serves several functions – it proposes changes, requests code review, facilitates comparison views, and encourages discussion and feedback amidst the team.
A pull request is not just about sending an alert for code changes. It’s a space for review and discussion. Think of it as your platform for proposing changes and collecting review comments. It’s a central place to communicate the ‘what’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ of your changes, before integrating them into the project. It’s about fostering quality code and encouraging collaboration.
When you create a pull request, your peers see exactly what changes you’ve proposed. They see the difference — or ‘diff’ — which represents the changes between your branch where you made modifications, and the main branch you want your changes merged into. In the ‘diff’, additions are displayed in green and deletions in red, helping visually track the edits.
Peer review is an integral part of the pull request process. Once created, your team can review the changes, discuss potential modifications, and even push follow-up commits if necessary. All this activity is tracked directly in the pull request. Reviews and comments can be made on an overall level or line by line, offering precise feedback and discussion.
The pull request encapsulates the philosophy of open-source projects and collaborative work. By enabling transparency of changes and facilitating discussion before merging any alterations, it makes a team’s work more efficient, cleaner, and error-free. This process reflects how collaboration and transparency in team projects lead to high-quality results – a principle that extends beyond the realm of software development.
Most of us will be familiar with the term from software development, but wouldn’t it be interesting if something similar could be adopted in other fields too? Imagine for a moment that a team in a top PR agency Sydney could ‘pull request’ a PR release draft. It could foster similar collaboration, transparency, and result in a finely tuned piece of work.
In conclusion, a pull request is more than just a notification. It’s a conversation starter designed to facilitate team collaboration and maintain high coding standards. It not only concludes a cycle of write-review-merge but starts a new iteration of the same, in a continual process of learning, improving, and growing.