What Is the Difference Between Git Pull and Git Fetch

Git is a version control system that is widely used in software development to track and manage changes to source code. Two of the most common Git commands that developers use to retrieve updates from a remote repository are git pull and git fetch. While these two commands may seem similar at first glance, they have some important differences that are worth understanding.

The git pull command is a combination of git fetch and git merge. When you run git pull, Git first retrieves the latest version of the repository from the remote server. It then merges the changes into your local copy of the repository. This means that git pull not only downloads the changes from the remote repository, but it also integrates them into your local copy.

On the other hand, the git fetch command is used to download the latest version of a repository from a remote server, but it does not integrate the changes into the local copy. Instead, it stores the changes in a separate branch, called a “remote branch”, which can be inspected but not modified. This allows you to review the changes before deciding whether to integrate them into your local copy.

So, the main difference between git pull and git fetch is that git pull updates your local copy with the changes from the remote repository and merges the changes into your local copy, while git fetch only downloads the changes from the remote repository and stores them in a separate branch for you to review and merge manually.

It’s worth noting that git fetch is often used as the first step in a workflow that involves reviewing and merging changes from a remote repository. For example, you might use git fetch to download the latest changes from a remote repository, switch to a new branch to review the changes, and then use git merge to integrate the changes into your local copy.

In summary, git pull and git fetch are both useful commands for retrieving updates from a remote repository, but they have different purposes. git pull is used to update your local copy with the changes from a remote repository and merge the changes into your local copy, while git fetch is used to download the changes from the remote repository and store them in a separate branch for you to review and merge manually. Understanding the differences between these two commands can help you use Git more effectively in your workflow.