what is git pull

The git pull command is used to update your local Git repository by fetching changes from a remote repository and then immediately merging those changes into your current local branch. Essentially, it combines two commands: git fetch (which downloads the new commits from the remote) and git merge (which integrates those commits into your local branch) in one step

. Here is how it works in detail:

• First, git pull runs git fetch to retrieve the latest commits from the remote repository.
• Then, it automatically performs a git merge to incorporate those fetched commits into your current branch, creating a new merge commit if necessary

This command is commonly used to keep your local branch up to date with the remote branch, especially in collaborative workflows where multiple people are contributing to the same project

. In comparison:

• git fetch only downloads the changes from the remote but does not modify your working directory or current branch.
• git pull downloads and immediately merges those changes into your working branch, which can sometimes lead to merge conflicts that you need to resolve manually

You can also use git pull --rebase if you want to avoid merge commits and instead reapply your local commits on top of the fetched changes, keeping a linear history

. In summary, git pull is a convenient command that updates your local repository by fetching and merging changes from a remote repository in one step, helping you stay synchronized with the latest code