Squashing commits combines multiple small commits into a single cohesive commit, creating cleaner project history and easier code review. As the creator of CoreUI, a widely used open-source UI library, I’ve squashed thousands of commits in pull requests throughout my 25 years of development experience. The most straightforward approach is using GitHub’s squash and merge feature or interactive rebase for local squashing before pushing. This method consolidates work-in-progress commits, fixes typos, and incremental changes into meaningful atomic commits representing complete features.

Merging pull requests integrates reviewed and approved code changes into the main codebase while maintaining project history and quality standards. As the creator of CoreUI, a widely used open-source UI library, I’ve merged thousands of pull requests in open-source projects throughout my 25 years of development experience. The most appropriate approach depends on project requirements: merge commits preserve full history, squash creates clean linear history, and rebase maintains individual commits. This method enables flexible merge strategies, automatic issue closing, and maintains clear project evolution through controlled integration.

Pull requests facilitate code review, discussion, and controlled integration of changes in collaborative software development workflows. As the creator of CoreUI, a widely used open-source UI library, I’ve created and reviewed thousands of pull requests throughout my 25 years of development experience. The most effective approach is pushing feature branches to GitHub and creating pull requests through the web interface with clear descriptions. This method enables comprehensive code review, automated testing, and maintains clean project history through structured merge workflows.