This article aims to compare the functionalities and differences between Git stash and shelve in IntelliJ IDEA and Netbeans.

Both stash and shelve are features that facilitate the management of changes in a project by allowing developers to temporarily set aside unfinished work without committing it to the repository.

While stash is a standard Git feature, shelve is an IDE-specific feature provided by IntelliJ IDEA.

Stash is used to record the current state of the working directory and index, while shelve is used to temporarily store changes made to files.

Notably, shelve offers more flexibility as it can operate with individual files or a collection of files, whereas stash can only operate with a whole collection of changed files at once.

Shelve also allows for the selection of specific files or changes within a file, which stash does not provide.

Furthermore, shelve proves useful for auto-generating documentation and sharing changes with a team, while stash is more suitable for personal use.

Functionality and Usage

Stash and Shelve have different functionalities and usage scenarios.

Stash saves local modifications and reverts the working directory to the HEAD commit. It saves all changes in the working directory as a whole, allowing them to be easily reapplied later. This makes it useful for temporarily saving work and switching to a different branch or task.

On the other hand, Shelve is not linked to a Version Control System (VCS) tool but to the IDE itself. It operates with individual files or a bunch of files, making it more flexible than git stash. Shelve provides the ability to selectively shelve specific files or changes within a file, giving more granular control over what is shelved. This makes it particularly useful when working on multiple features simultaneously or when generating documentation.

Additionally, Shelve is not limited to Git and can be used with other VCS tools supported by IntelliJ IDEA/Netbeans.

Overall, both stash and Shelve offer different functionalities and can be used in different scenarios, depending on the specific needs of the developer.

Comparison and Differences

The main distinction between the two features lies in their ability to select specific files or changes within files, with one feature allowing this flexibility while the other does not.

Shelve, being an IDE-specific feature, allows users to selectively choose individual files or changes inside a file to be put aside. This allows for a more granular approach when putting aside unfinished work.

On the other hand, Git stash, being a standard Git feature, can only operate with a whole bunch of changed files at once. It does not provide the option to select specific files or changes. This limitation may make Git stash less flexible compared to Shelve in certain scenarios where users need more control over which files or changes are being put aside.

Additional Information

One important point to note is that Shelve is a third-party feature that is specific to JetBrains products like WebStorm, PhpStorm, and PyCharm, while stash is a built-in option in Git.

Shelve is not a Git command, but a feature provided by IntelliJ IDEA. It allows users to store patches managed by the IDE itself, while stash stores standard things managed by Git.

Shelve is useful for auto-generating documentation and can be added to a Version Control System (VCS) tool to share changes with a team.

On the other hand, stash is a standard Git feature that saves local modifications and reverts the working directory to the HEAD commit.

Both shelve and stash allow users to switch to different branches without committing and losing work.