git pull vs git pull — rebase

Sophie Andriamahenintsoa
2 min readJun 14, 2024

Let’s go over the differences between git pull and git pull --rebase and understand which one might be better in different situations.

Advantages and Disadvantages:

Best Practices:

  • Team Use: git pull --rebase is often recommended for teams because it keeps the commit history clean, making collaboration and code reviews easier.
  • Conflict Prevention: Rebasing can reduce the number of conflicts by resolving them at the level of individual commits instead of a single merge commit.
  • Communication: Ensure that your team is comfortable with rebasing and understands how to handle situations where history is rewritten.

Practical Example:

Suppose you have the following situation:

  1. You have been working on the feature branch and made a few commits.
  2. Meanwhile, other team members have added commits to the main branch.

Using git pull --rebase can keep your repository's history cleaner and easier to manage, but it requires a good understanding of Git and clear communication with your team. It's a powerful tool for maintaining a linear commit history and avoiding the clutter of merge commits.

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