Difference Between fork and clone in GitHub

In GitHub when we want to work on someone else’s project we usually do either cloning or forking. In this article, we will learn what is the difference between fork and clone in Github.

Forking is a fundamental concept in GitHub, primarily used in open-source development. When you fork a repository on GitHub, you create a copy of the original repository under your GitHub account. This copy is entirely independent and exists within your GitHub space. Forking is common when you want to contribute to a project without directly altering the original codebase.

Key aspects of forking include:

1. Creating a Separate Copy: When you fork a repository, you essentially create a separate copy of it. This copy retains the entire commit history and branches of the original repository.
2. Independence: The forked repository is independent of the original one. You can make changes, add features, or fix bugs in your forked repository without affecting the original project.
3. Contributions: Forking facilitates contribution to open-source projects. After making changes in your forked repository, you can submit pull requests to the original repository, proposing your modifications for review and potential inclusion.

Now let us discuss a very simple procedure to fork a repository from the below listed simple 2 steps which are as predicted with help of visual aid below.

• Open any repository on Github
• Just click the Fork button in the header of a repository.

Note: It will take some time and when the process is complete,  the forked copy of the project will open. Now let us see what Clone stands for in developing projects or be it a smaller program. 

Cloning, on the other hand, involves creating a local copy of a repository from GitHub onto your local machine. It allows you to work on the code locally, make changes, and interact with the repository without an active internet connection. Cloning is a crucial step in the development process, enabling developers to work on projects locally and synchronize changes with the remote repository on GitHub.

Key aspects of cloning:

1. Local Copy: When you clone a repository, you download a full copy of the repository onto your local machine. This copy includes all files, commit history, branches, and other repository data.
2. Version Control: Cloning enables version control on your local machine. You can make changes to the code, create new branches, commit changes, and manage the entire development workflow locally.
3. Synchronization: After making changes locally, you can push these changes back to the remote repository on GitHub. This synchronization ensures that your local changes are reflected in the shared repository, allowing collaboration with other team members.

How to clone a repository?

• Open any repository on Github
• Click on the code button to get the repository’s HTTPS or SSH URL.
• We are ready to perform the clone using the git clone command in the command-line interface as depicted in below visual aid.

Now let us discuss the conclusive differences between Fork and Clone operation over a repository, been depicted below in a tabular format provided below as follows: