How does pull differ from fetch?

The git fetch command downloads changes from a remote repository to your local one, but does not merge them with your current branch — it simply updates the references to remote branches. This allows you to see what changes are available before integrating them.

The git pull command is a combination of fetch + merge (or rebase), meaning it first downloads the changes and then automatically attempts to merge them with your current branch. This is a more automated way to update your local code.

Example:

# Only download changes without touching the current branch
git fetch origin

# Download and immediately merge changes with the current branch
git pull origin master