Git Merging with Pull Requests

In exercise 8 you created two branches. The links were red in one branch and green in the other, so that you could quickly show your boss both options. She has decided she doesn't like either colour. Instead, she wants the links in a dark orange.

In this exercise you will learn how to apply changes you have made in one git branch to another branch. This is called "merging". Follow the instructions below to create a branch, make changes, and merge them to the master branch.

Hint: If you get confused at any time, ask a mentor for help. Merging can be difficult!

First, let's build our dark_orange branch. You did something similar in exercise 8, but let's practice doing it again.

Open the terminal in your code editor. Check which branch you are currently in by entering the following command into your terminal:

git branch

You should see the following printed to the terminal, which tells you that you are currently on the master branch:

  green_links
* master
  red_links

Enter the following command into your terminal to create a new branch:

git checkout -b orange_links

Enter git branch to see if the branch was created. You should see the following:

  green_links
  master
* orange_links
  red_links

This means that you are currently editing the orange_links branch.

Now edit the style.css file and change the colour of the links in your messages to orangered. Check to see if the links have changed colour. If they have, then add and commit your changes.

Next, you will need to push the orange_links branches. When you have a new branch, you have to add extra information to the first push command:

git push -u origin orange_links

When you have successfully pushed your orange_links branch, you should see the following in your GitHub repository.

GitHub will show you this yellow bar whenever you have recently pushed to a branch. If you pushed your changes more than 20-30 minutes ago, it may not appear.

Now we are ready to merge the changes from our orange_links branch into our master branch. Click the Compare & pull request button indicated below.

On the next page, check to make sure the correct branch is showing where the arrow points to orange_links. Then scroll down to see a description of the changes that will be applied.

When you're ready to create the pull request, click the Create Pull Request button.

Now that you've created the pull request, make some final checks and then merge it.

1. It shows each commit you made on the branch. Make sure you only see the commits you expect to see.
2. Click the Files Changed link to see a list of all the changes you are about to merge. Make sure you only see the changes you expect to see.
3. When you're ready, click the Merge Pull Request button.

Congratulations! You have now changed the colour of the links and merged those changes to your master branch.