Pull Requests

The beating heart of open source projects, a Pull Request is a submission of commits to a Forge repository with the hope that it's changes will be merged in. In complete technicality, a Pull Request is when someone makes a branch from the main branch of a Forge Repository, makes changes, and wants it to be pulled by the Forge Repository and merged into the main branch.

Pull Requests are usually the main way branches get merged back into the main branch, even if someone has the ability to just merge using the command line. This is because Pull Requests allow other team members to review all of the commits made, how they related to the current code of other branches, and how they would impact the project going forward. If anything of note comes up upon being reviewed by your peers, they can create comments and have conversation in the Pull Request, assign it, request changes, and make their own changes and suggestions. Since Pull Requests are always branches, they can also be updated in response to feedback during reviews as well, making Pull Requests extremely powerful tools for organizing the practical implementation of changes.

Most Pull Requests are not spontaneous. A vast majority of Pull Requests are made in response to Open Issues, and will tag them accordingly. Pull Requests will also often have some basic automated checklists they need to meet to be reviewed (such as style guidelines). Pull Requests that aren't done in response to Issues will usually come from coordination done in chat rooms, forum threads, and email chains outside the Forge.

Try to rely on using the Pull Request systems of your Forge when you can. It's a good habit to build.