Mastering Git for Collaborative Data Engineering: Branching, Pull Requests, and Best Practices
Introduction
- Understand the scope and goals of the workshop and what will be demonstrated.
In this session, we aim to equip you with the knowledge and skills to use Git in a team environment effectively. We will focus on repository handling, best practices for branching, and the use of pull requests in data engineering tasks.
Cloning the Repository
- Develop skills in cloning a Git repository to a local machine.
Cloning a repository creates a local copy of the remote repository on your machine. This allows you to work on the project independently and synchronize your changes with the remote repository. You can clone a repository with the command git clone [url].
Creating a Feature Branch
- Gain the ability to create a new branch with a name reflecting the feature to be implemented.
A feature branch is created for each new feature or task you're working on. This practice helps in isolating changes and makes collaboration easier. You can create and switch to a new branch using git checkout -b [branch-name]. The branch name should be descriptive of the feature or task.
Making Changes
- Learn to make changes in the created branch and commit changes with clear, descriptive messages.
Changes to the code are made in the feature branch. After making changes, you should commit them with a clear and descriptive commit message. This helps in understanding the purpose of the change and aids in tracking progress. You can add changes to the staging area with git add [file-name] and then commit them using git commit -m "[descriptive message]".
Syncing with the Main Branch
- Comprehend the need and process of regularly pulling updates from the main branch to avoid major merge conflicts.
- Acquire the ability to resolve a simple merge conflict.
It's important to keep your feature branch up-to-date with the main branch to avoid conflicts when merging your changes. You can pull updates from the main branch using git pull origin main. If there are conflicts, they need to be resolved manually.
Pushing Changes and Creating a Pull Request
- Understand how to push a feature branch to the remote repository.
- Learn how to create a clear, descriptive pull request on GitHub.
After committing your changes, you can push your feature branch to the remote repository using `git push origin [branch-name]`. Then, you can create a pull request through the GitHub interface. Your pull request should clearly describe the changes made.
Reviewing a Pull Request
- Understand how to review code in a pull request and provide constructive feedback.
Code review is a crucial part of the development process. When reviewing a pull request, consider the code's overall design, correctness, and style. Feedback should be constructive and specific. In GitHub, you can comment on specific lines of code and suggest changes.
Addressing Review Feedback
- Learn to make further changes based on review feedback and update the pull request.
If there are comments on your pull request, you should address them by making further changes to your code or explaining your decisions. After making changes based on feedback, you can add, commit, and push your changes as before, which will update the pull request.
Resolving Merge Conflicts
- Gain the ability to resolve merge conflicts with the main branch.
If there are conflicts between your feature branch and the main branch, you must resolve them before merging your changes. You'll need to manually edit the conflicting files to choose which changes to keep, then add and commit the resolved files.
Merging the Pull Request
- Understand the process of merging the pull request once all feedback has been addressed, and all checks pass.
Once all feedback has been addressed and all checks passed, the pull request can be merged into the main branch. This can be done using the GitHub interface.
Deleting the Feature Branch
- Delete the feature branch from the local and remote repositories.
After merging your changes, you can delete the feature branch as it's no longer needed. This can be done locally with git branch -d [branch-name] and on the remote with git push origin --delete [branch-name].