Introduction :
GitHub is a popular platform where software developers and programmers may share their work with the rest of the world. It’s also a popular location for open source initiatives. The pull request functionality enables developers to share their work with others in order to get feedback, continually improve, and eventually merge it into the main codebase.
A pull request is a type of patch that anyone on GitHub can submit. You can create a pull request on GitHub from your computer or any other computer with internet access. Before you can create your first pull request, you’ll need an account and permission from someone who has access to the repository (the owner).
Create a Pull Request on GitHub
Using GitHub, you can submit changes to a project for evaluation and possible inclusion in the official repository by creating a pull request (PR). Here’s how to make a pull request on GitHub:
1. Fork the repository you want to contribute to by clicking the “Fork” button on the top-right corner of the repository page. This will create a copy of the repository under your own GitHub account.
2. Clone the forked repository to your local machine using the command :
git clone https://github.com/[your-username]/[repository-name].git
3. Create a new branch for your changes using below command :
git branch [branch-name] and switch to it using git checkout [branch-name]
4. Make your changes and commit them to the branch using below command :
git commit -am "[commit message]"
5. Push the changes to your forked repository on GitHub using below command
git push origin [branch-name]
6. On the original repository page, click the “New pull request” button. This will open a page where you can compare the changes between your forked repository and the original repository.
7. Verify that the changes are correct and add a descriptive title and a detailed explanation of your changes in the pull request message.
8. Click the “Create pull request” button to submit your pull request.
Once you submit a pull request, the repository maintainers will review your changes and may merge them if they are considered appropriate.
Conclusion :
When making a pull request, the ideal practise is to create a separate branch for each new feature or bug patch, and to provide clear and descriptive commit statements. It’s also critical to test the code and ensure it doesn’t break anything before submitting the pull request. It’s also a good idea to keep your fork in sync with the original repository by running git pull before publishing modifications.
Additionally, when creating a pull request, make sure that it is targeted at the relevant branch, which would be usually the development or next release branch. It’s also a good idea to create a template for the pull request so that the maintainers can easily understand and review the modifications. Pull requests, in general, allow developers to cooperate and contribute to open-source projects, and they are an important component of the open-source development process.