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Git Patch Management: Sharing Changes Without Pushing

Difficulty: intermediate
Est. Time: 60 minutes
Prerequisites:
  • Git and CI/CD Integration: Automating Workflows for Continuous Delivery
Git Patch Management: Sharing Changes Without Pushing
•15 min•
TUTORIAL
git
patches
offline
intermediate

Git Patch Management: Sharing Changes Without Pushing

Patches allow you to share changes without pushing to a remote repository. This is particularly useful for offline workflows or collaborating outside traditional Git hosting platforms. In this blog, we’ll explore how to create, apply, and manage patches effectively.

Table of Contents

  • Creating Patches
  • Applying Patches
  • Resolving Conflicts
  • Use Cases for Patch Management
  • Exercise: Managing Patches

Creating Patches

Use git format-patch to generate patch files:


  git format-patch HEAD~1

Applying Patches

Apply a patch using git apply:


  git apply <patch-file>

Or use git am for commit metadata:


  git am <patch-file>

Resolving Conflicts

Handle conflicts when applying patches:


  # Resolve conflicts manually
  git am --abort

Use Cases for Patch Management

Examples include:

  • Offline collaboration.
  • Sharing changes without internet access.
  • Contributing to projects without direct repository access.

Exercise: Managing Patches

Practice managing patches:

  • Generate a patch for a recent commit.
  • Apply the patch to another repository.
  • Handle conflicts when applying patches.

Coming Up Next

In the next part of this series, we’ll explore partial clones and sparse checkouts, optimizing Git operations for large repositories by reducing the amount of data fetched or checked out.

Part 23 of 24 in Git Mastery Series: From Beginner to Expert
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