For developers navigating the complexities of Git, visualizing and understanding branch differences is paramount. The recent updates to Fork, a user-friendly Git client, have significantly enhanced the ability to compare branches, making it easier than ever to manage complex repositories and streamline your workflow. One standout feature is the ability to expand and collapse merge commits within the commit graph. This seemingly simple addition offers a powerful way to declutter your commit history and focus specifically on the changes introduced within particular branches, especially when you need to compare two branches effectively.
Imagine trying to decipher the commit history of a large project like the Swift language source code, a massive GitHub repository with over 100,000 commits and 32,000 pull requests. Identifying the commits related to a specific feature or pull request in such a dense graph can be incredibly challenging.
Alt text: Overwhelmed view of the Swift language repository commit graph in Fork, displaying a dense network of branches and commits before collapsing merge commits.
Fork’s collapsible commit graph feature directly addresses this issue. By allowing you to collapse merge commits, Fork lets you selectively hide commits that are not immediately relevant to your current task of branch comparison. This decluttering action helps you to focus on the essential changes within the branches you are interested in comparing. You can collapse all branches using the graph’s context menu and then expand only those branches you wish to scrutinize.
Applying this to the Swift repository example, the difference is striking. Suddenly, the commit history becomes comprehensible. You can clearly pinpoint when work on a specific feature, such as pull request #20782, commenced, identify the commits it encompasses, and determine precisely when it was merged into the main branch. Furthermore, it becomes straightforward to discern which other pull requests were integrated while feature #20782 was still under development.
Alt text: Focused view of the Swift commit graph in Fork after collapsing merge commits, clearly highlighting the commits belonging to a specific feature branch and its integration.
This visual clarity is invaluable when you need to compare two branches. By collapsing irrelevant merges, you isolate the commit history of the branches you are comparing, making it much easier to see the distinct changes introduced by each branch and understand their divergence and eventual merge points.
Beyond the commit graph enhancements, Fork for Windows has also received significant updates that further contribute to efficient branch comparison and management.
One such feature is partial stash, accessible from the file context menu. When working on a feature branch, you might accumulate a substantial amount of work-in-progress. If you need to switch to another branch to address a bug or review another feature, the ability to stash only specific files, rather than your entire working directory, provides greater control and flexibility. This granular stash capability is especially useful when comparing branches, as it allows you to cleanly switch contexts without losing focused changes.
Fork has also introduced a more intuitive way to merge and rebase branches using drag & drop directly on the sidebar. Instead of navigating through menus, you can simply drag a branch onto another branch and choose whether to merge or rebase from the popover menu. This drag-and-drop functionality streamlines common branch operations, making the process of preparing branches for comparison and merging much quicker.
Alt text: Animated demonstration of Fork’s drag and drop feature for merging branches directly from the sidebar, showing the intuitive user interaction.
Creating pull requests is also made easier directly from Fork. Whether you are using GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, or Azure DevOps, you can initiate a pull request directly from the branch context menu. This integration simplifies the workflow for proposing branch merges and facilitates collaborative branch comparison and code review.
For repositories using Git LFS, Fork now includes the ability to lock and unlock LFS files. This feature prevents binary merge conflicts by allowing developers to lock files on the server, ensuring exclusive modification. Managing LFS locks directly within Fork, through the file context menu, avoids potential conflicts when working with branches that modify LFS assets.
Understanding the underlying Git commands is crucial for advanced branch comparison and troubleshooting. Fork now displays the output of git commands in the activity manager. This transparency is incredibly helpful for debugging and understanding exactly what Fork is doing behind the scenes. Seeing the commands and their output can be invaluable when comparing branches and encountering unexpected behavior or merge conflicts.
Visual cues are essential for quickly understanding branch status. Fork now uses different branch icons to indicate upstream status. Distinct icons differentiate between local-only branches, branches pushed upstream, and branches where the remote branch has been removed. These visual indicators provide immediate insight into branch relationships, aiding in branch selection for comparison and merging.
To prevent connection issues, Fork has added a ‘Test connection’ button to clone and edit remote dialogs. This simple yet effective feature allows you to verify remote connections before proceeding with cloning or modifying remote settings, saving time and frustration when setting up branch comparisons involving remote repositories.
For users working with multiple feature branches, Fork’s ability to push multiple branches at once is a significant time-saver. Selecting multiple branches in the sidebar and pushing them simultaneously streamlines the process of sharing branch updates, especially when preparing multiple branches for comparison and integration.
Alt text: Screenshot showcasing Fork’s feature to select and push multiple Git branches at once from the sidebar, improving efficiency for users managing numerous branches.
Finally, for in-depth issue investigation across branches, Fork integrates bisect. Git bisect allows you to perform a binary search through commit history to pinpoint when a bug was introduced. Accessible from the Repository menu, Fork’s bisect mode visualizes your progress in the timeline, making it easier to identify problematic commits across different branches.
In conclusion, Fork emerges as a powerful Git client that significantly enhances the process of comparing 2 branches. Features like the collapsible commit graph, side-by-side diff (mentioned in the original article but not detailed here to maintain focus), and the array of Windows-specific improvements, contribute to a more efficient, intuitive, and insightful branch comparison experience. Whether you are managing large, complex repositories or simply want a clearer view of your branch history, Fork provides the tools you need to master branch comparison and streamline your Git workflow.
Download Fork for Mac Download Fork for Windows
