fetch vs pull
- Git course
- Beginner
- Lesson 74/80
- 4 min
Learn the difference between fetch and pull.
The Difference Between Fetch and Pull
git fetch downloads new commits and reference information from the remote repository, but does not automatically change your current branch. git pull integrates the downloaded changes into your current branch.
git fetch origin
git pull origin mainYou can use fetch when you want to inspect changes before integrating them.
Inspecting Changes After Fetch
After git fetch, you can inspect the updated state of a remote branch. For example, origin/main represents the main branch on the remote repository.
git fetch origin
git log HEAD..origin/main --onelineThe second command lists remote commits that are not present in your local branch. This lets you see what arrived before integrating it.
Practice Fetch First, Then Inspect
Download information from the remote repository using fetch. Then list remote commits that are missing from your local branch in short format.
Starter code
print("Uzak bilgiler alınıyor")Sample solution
git fetch origin
git log HEAD..origin/main --oneline
print("İnceleme tamamlandı")Expected output
Uzak bilgiler alınıyor İnceleme tamamlandı
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 Which command should you use if you want to download remote changes without integrating them into your current branch yet?
- git fetch Correct answer
- git pull
- git merge
- git commit
Explanation: Correct. fetch downloads remote information but does not change your current branch through an integration operation.
2 Download Remote Information with Fetch
git ____ origingit fetch originExplanation: fetch downloads remote commit and reference information; it does not automatically merge them into your current branch.
3 Fetch and Pull Comparison
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
git fetch |
Downloads changes |
git pull |
Downloads and integrates |
origin/main |
Remote branch reference |
HEAD..origin/main |
Range of missing commits |