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Software Engineering vocabulary · Version Control

Cherry-pick

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˈtʃeri pɪk/verbCommon term

In software engineering, cherry-pick means: In Git, to copy one specific commit from one branch onto another without merging the whole branch. In general English, to choose only the best or most useful items.

In Turkish: seçerek almak, belirli bir commit'i taşımak, cherry-pick yapmak

How it is used

Often used to bring a bug fix into a release branch: 'cherry-pick the fix into release/2.4'. It is handy but can create duplicate commits, so teams use it carefully. Outside Git it can sound critical: 'They cherry-picked the data that supported their idea.'

Example sentences

  1. Can you cherry-pick the login fix into the release branch? We can't ship the rest yet.

  2. I cherry-picked two commits from Ali's branch to unblock my work.

Common collocations

  • cherry-pick a commit
  • cherry-pick into the release branch
  • git cherry-pick
  • cherry-pick a fix
  • commitA saved snapshot of changes in a repository, with a short message that explains what was changed and why. Also used as a verb: to commit your changes.
  • branchA separate line of development in a repository, where you can work on changes without affecting the main code until you are ready to merge.
  • hotfixAn urgent fix for a serious problem in production, released quickly outside the normal release schedule.
  • mergeTo combine the changes from one branch into another, so that both sets of work end up in the same code.

More terms: Version Control

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