Are you tired of manually applying changes from one branch to another?
With Git Cherry-Pick, you can easily apply specific commits from one branch to another.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Git Cherry-Pick to streamline your workflow.
We’ll cover the basics of Cherry-Pick, including its syntax and options, as well as advanced techniques for applying multiple commits and handling conflicts.
Through real-life command line examples, you’ll see how to incorporate Cherry-Pick into your daily Git routine and make your development process more efficient.
Git Cherry-Pick
Git cherry-pick is a powerful command that allows you to apply changes from a specific commit to the current branch.
It essentially “picks” a commit from one branch and applies it to another, creating a new commit that includes the same changes.
This serves several purposes:
- It enables you to selectively merge specific commits from one branch into another, rather than merging the entire branch.
This is particularly useful when you want to integrate bug fixes or feature updates from a different branch without bringing in unnecessary code changes. - Git cherry-pick helps in resolving conflicts by allowing you to apply individual commits in a controlled manner.
- It also facilitates code review and testing by enabling developers to isolate and test specific changes independently of other commits.
By using git cherry-pick, developers can efficiently manage their codebase and streamline their development workflow.
When to use git cherry-pick?
You might want to use git cherry-pick in the following scenarios:
1. You want to apply a specific fix or feature from one branch to another.
2. You need to backport a change from a newer branch to an older branch.
3. You want to test a specific commit on a different branch without merging the entire branch.
How to use git cherry-pick?
Following steps should be performed to execute git cherry-pick command:
- Find the commit hash:
Identify the commit you want to cherry-pick by finding its hash usinggit log. - Switch to the target branch:
Checkout the branch where you want to apply the changes using `git checkout `. - Run git cherry-pick:
Executegit cherry-pick <commitid>(replacecommitidwith the actual hash of the commit you want to apply).
Example:git cherry-pick abc123 - Resolve conflicts (if any):
If there are conflicts, Git will pause and allow you to resolve them manually.
Once you’ve resolved the conflicts, rungit add .and thengit cherry-pick --continue`. - Commit the changes:
After resolving conflicts (if any), Git will create a new commit with the changes from the original commit.
You can edit the commit message if needed.
Before running
git cherry-pickmake sure you have pulled all the changes (specifically the commit you are trying to cherry-pick) from remote repository usinggit pull.
Applying Multiple Commits
Clearly, there are cases where you need to apply multiple commits at once. You can do this by specifying a range of commits using the .. notation.
For instance, if you want to apply all commits from abc123 to def456, you would run
git cherry-pick abc123..def456
This will apply all commits in that range, including the start and end commits.
Understanding Merge Conflicts
A merge conflict occurs when Git cannot automatically merge changes from two different commits.
This often happens when multiple developers have made changes to the same code section.
Resolving Conflicts Manually
You can resolve conflicts manually by editing the conflicting files and committing the changes.
To do this, open the conflicting file, identify the conflicting sections (marked by <<<<<<<, ======= and >>>>>>>), and edit the code to resolve the conflict.
Once you’ve resolved the conflict, save the file and commit the changes using git commit -m “Resolved conflict”.
Another approach to resolving conflicts manually is to use Git’s built-in tools, such as git mergetool, which allows you to visually compare and merge conflicting files.
Git Cherry-Pick Options
Below is a list of options that you can use with git cherry-pick command with examples:
1. git cherry-pick
Apply the changes from the specified commit to the current branch.
Example:
git cherry-pick abc123
This will apply the changes from the commit with hash abc123 to the current branch.
2. git cherry-pick HEAD~1
Apply the changes from the previous commit (i.e., the commit before the current one) to the current branch.
Example:
git cherry-pick HEAD~1
This will apply the changes from the previous commit to the current branch.
3. git cherry-pick –abort
Cancel the current cherry-pick operation and return to the previous state.
Example:
git cherry-pick --abort
This will cancel the current cherry-pick operation and return to the previous state.
4. git cherry-pick –continue
Continue the current cherry-pick operation after resolving conflicts.
Example:
git cherry-pick --continue
This will continue the current cherry-pick operation after resolving conflicts.
5. git cherry-pick -x
Append a line that says “(cherry picked from commit …)” to the original commit message.
Example:
git cherry-pick -x abc123
This will append a line that says “(cherry picked from commit abc123)” to the original commit message.
6. git cherry-pick –no-commit
Apply the changes from the specified commit, but do not create a new commit.
Example:
git cherry-pick --no-commit abc123
This will apply the changes from the commit with hash `abc123`, but do not create a new commit.
7. git cherry-pick –signoff
Add a Signed-off-by: line at the end of the commit message.
Example:
git cherry-pick --signoff abc123
This will add a Signed-off-by: line at the end of the commit message.
These are some of the most commonly used options with git cherry-pick
To wrap up
In this article, we learned how to use Git Cherry-Pick to apply specific commits to your branch.
You’ve seen how to use commands like git cherry-pick to apply a single commit, or git cherry-pick .. to apply a range of commits.
By following the examples and best practices outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to streamline your Git workflow.
