The latest articles on DEV Community by Sven Luijten (@svenluijten). https://dev.to/svenluijten https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F7787%2F11269635.jpeg https://dev.to/svenluijten en Sven Luijten Fri, 07 Jul 2017 20:49:13 +0000 https://dev.to/svenluijten/open-multiple-simultaneous-pull-requests https://dev.to/svenluijten/open-multiple-simultaneous-pull-requests <p>Forking repositories is at the core of contributing to open source, and everyone does it just a little bit differently. So let's take a look at how I used to handle multiple pull requests on the same repository, the problems it presented and the solution to those problems.</p> <h2> The problem </h2> <p>Say I want to create 2 pull requests to solve 2 seperate issues on the repository <code>octocat/test-project</code>. A lot of people would create their first just fine:</p> <ol> <li>Fork the repository on GitHub</li> <li>Clone the forked repository</li> <li>Make changes in the <code>master</code> branch</li> <li>Push to the forked repository</li> <li>Open the pull request</li> </ol> <p>Ok, that works. However, adding the second pull request changes the dynamic. Making changes to that same <code>master</code> branch will affect the original (first) pull request, so let's not do that. Branching off of <code>master</code> now will include the changes you've already made for PR #1. Some people might tell you to do the following:</p> <ol> <li>Fork the repository on GitHub again (this will create a <code>test-project-1</code> repository)</li> <li>Clone the forked repository</li> <li>Make changes in <em>that</em> repository's <code>master</code> branch</li> <li>Push to the forked repository</li> <li>Open the pull request</li> </ol> <p>Obviously, if you wanted to open a third, fourth, or even a fifth pull request, this becomes unweildy. Did I make that change in <code>test-project-2</code> or <code>test-project-4</code>?</p> <h2> The solution </h2> <p>How could you combat this? Branching! When initially cloning the first repository, start by creating a branch for the thing your PR solves:</p> <div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight shell"><code><span class="nv">$ </span>git checkout <span class="nt">-b</span> first-pull-request </code></pre></div> <p>This creates and checks out the <code>first-pull-request</code> branch. Make your changes for PR #1 and push them to GitHub. You can now open your first PR on GitHub.</p> <p>Adding a second PR couldn't be easier:</p> <div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight shell"><code><span class="c"># Ensure you're on master!</span> <span class="nv">$ </span>git checkout master <span class="nv">$ </span>git checkout <span class="nt">-b</span> second-pull-request </code></pre></div> <p>Again, make your changes and push them to GitHub. Now you can safely open the second pull request without having to worry about conflicting with the first one!</p> git branching forking opensource