Pull Vs Rebase

Pull and rebase are two common Git commands used to manage changes from different branches. If both of them serve a similar purpose, why are they different? Let me share my insights! 💡

First, let's look at the definitions of both commands. The git pull command is used to fetch and merge changes from another branch into your target branch. Meanwhile, the git rebase command is used to reapply your commits on top of the base branch's commits. From the definitions themselves, we can see that both have the same purpose (to synchronize changes between branches) but with different methods.

In short, the pull method merges changes from another branch into your target branch by appending a single merge commit after your last commit. If there's a conflict during the merging process, it won't be merged, and you'll need to resolve it on your local branch first.

On the other hand, the rebase method reapplies your commits onto the base branch's latest commit. If conflicts arise, you'll need to resolve the conflict for each commit that applies your changes. You'll need to use git rebase --continue after resolving the conflicts in each individual commit.

So, when should you use which? To be honest, I think it depends on your own preferences. But for me, I use pull to merge from the base branch to my feature branch for simple updates, especially if it's okay to add an additional merge commit. Then, I use rebase when I think it's important to keep the commit sequence in order, especially if the feature branch has complex changes.