Pull Request vs. Merge Request: Essential Differences

Pull requests (PRs) and merge requests (MRs) are essential tools in collaborative software development, facilitating code integration and review across different version control platforms, such as GitHub and GitLab. Although functionally similar, PRs are primarily associated with GitHub and focus on "pulling" changes, while MRs are used on GitLab and emphasize "merging" changes into the main branch. The workflow for both involves creating a branch for specific changes, committing those changes, and submitting a request for review and integration into the main codebase, ensuring quality and consistency through feedback and collaboration. These requests offer significant advantages over simple Git commands by streamlining workflows, enhancing communication, and maintaining a transparent version history of code changes. Additionally, tools like qodo (formerly Codium) leverage AI to further refine and expedite the code review process by offering features such as automatic descriptions and suggestions for improvements, ultimately contributing to a more efficient development cycle and a robust codebase.