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Github Branching and Merging

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Github Branching and Merging

Uploaded by

suvratml21
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lab: Branching and Merging (Web UI)

Estimated time: 15 minutes

Objectives
After completing this lab, you will be able to:

1. Create a branch
2. Commit changes to a child branch
3. Open a pull request
4. Merge a pull request into the main branch

Prerequisites
This hands-on lab requires you to have created a GitHub account with a repository in it, as covered in Getting started with GitHub lab.

NOTE: In the past the default branch in your GitHub repo used the name master. Effective Oct 1, 2020, all new GitHub
repositories will use the more inclusive term main as the name of the default branch instead of master.

1. Create a branch
You can create or delete branches using your repository's GitHub web page. To add a branch to your repository, complete the following
steps:

1. Go to your repository's main page. Note that when you created your repository, the one branch named main was created for you.

2. At the top of the file list, locate the Branch drop-down menu. (By default, the menu displays Branch: main.) Click the drop-down
menu, type the name of the branch you want to create, and press Enter or return on your keyboard.

Your repository now has two branches: Main and Child_Branch. You can click the drop-down menu to see your branches.
Any files that were in the main branch are reflected in the Child_Branch. Note that when you add or edit a file in Child_Branch, that
change will not automatically reflect in the main branch

2. Add a file to a branch


To add a file to your new branch, ensure that the name you gave the new branch (which in the case of the example showcased is
Child_Branch) is displayed in the Branch drop-down menu and complete the following steps:

1. Click Add file > Create new file to create a file in the repository.

2. Type a name and extension for the file, for example, testchild.py, and add the following lines to the body of the new file:

3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, add a description of the file you are about to add (note that the description is optional), and click
Commit.
The file is added to your child branch.

3. Open a pull request


The file that you added to your child branch is not automatically added to the main branch. (You can check this by using the Branch
drop-down menu to go to the main branch; note that there is no testchild.py file in the file list).

You can also compare the two branches and open a pull request, which will enable you to merge the changes that you've made in the
child branch – in this case, adding a new file – to the main branch.

1. In Child_Branch, click the Compare & pull request button.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and note that there is 1 changed file listed and the changes are highlighted in green.

3. Scroll up and note that GitHub is comparing the main and Child_Branch branches and that there are no conflicts between the two.
Optionally, you can add a comment to the pull request. Click Create pull request.
The pull request has been successfully created and is now ready to be merged by a repository administrator. For all the repositories that
you create, you automatically have administrative rights.

4. Merge a pull request


To merge a pull request into a project, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Pull requests tab. A list of pending pull requests is displayed.

2. Click the pull request that you want to merge into the main project. Review the changes, click Merge pull request to accept the
pull request and merge the updates. (You can optionally add a comment.)
3. When you click Merge pull request, a Confirm merge button is displayed. Click that button to complete the merge.

The pull request has now been merged successfully. Note that you can delete the child branch because your changes have been
incorporated into the main branch.

Check the list of files in the main branch to confirm that it now includes the file that you added in the pull request.
Summary
Congratulations! You've now learned how to create a branch, edit and commit changes in that branch, open a pull request, and merge the
pull request into your main project. We encourage you to continue to experiment with branches and pull requests to become more
familiar with the concepts and processes.

Author details
Author:

Malika Singla

Other contributor:

Rav Ahuja

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