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The git pull command is used to fetch and download content from a remote repository and immediately update the local repository to match that content. Merging remote upstream changes into your local repository is a common task in Git-based collaboration work flows.
After the clone, a plain git fetch without arguments will update all the remote-tracking branches, and a git pull without arguments will in addition merge the remote master branch into the current master branch, if any (this is untrue when "--single-branch" is given; see below).
git clone is primarily used to point to an existing repo and make a clone or copy of that repo at in a new directory, at another location. The original repository can be located on the local filesystem or on remote machine accessible supported protocols. The git clone command copies an existing Git repository.
git fetch is the command that tells your local git to retrieve the latest meta-data info from the original (yet doesn't do any file transferring. It's more like just checking to see if there are any changes available). git pull on the other hand does that AND brings (copy) those changes from the remote repository.
git clone is how you get a local copy of an existing repository to work on. It's usually only used once for a given repository, unless you want to have multiple working copies of it around. (Or want to get a clean copy after messing up your local one...)
git pull (or git fetch + git merge) is how you update that local copy with new commits from the remote repository. If you are collaborating with others, it is a command that you will run frequently.
As your first example shows, it is possible to emulate git clone with an assortment of other git commands, but it's not really the case that git pull is doing "basically the same thing" as git clone (or vice-versa).
They're basically the same, except clone will setup additional remote tracking branches, not just master. Check out the man page:
Clones a repository into a newly created directory, creates remote-tracking branches for each branch in the cloned repository (visible using git branch -r), and creates and checks out an initial branch that is forked from the cloned repository's currently active branch.
In laymen language we can say:
git clone means you are making a copy of the repository in your system.
git fork means you are copying the repository to your Github account.
git pull means you are fetching the last modified repository.
git push means you are returning the repository after modifying it.
In layman's term:
git clone is downloading and git pull is refreshing.
Miss Clone: I get a fresh copy to local.
Mr Pull: I already have it locally, I just update it.
Miss Clone: I can do what you do! You are just my subset.
Mr Pull: Ditto!
Miss Clone: No, you don't create. This is what I do:
You only do #3, and then you merge, which I do not need to do(mine is fresh).
Mr Pull: Smarty pants, no big deal, I will do a "git init" first! Then we are the same.
Miss Clone: No dear, don't you need a 'checked-out branch'... the git checkout? Who will do it? me!
Mr Pull: Oh right, that is needed. I need a default branch to act on. But..but I have the extra 'merge' capability on existing repo! Which makes me the most used command in Git ;)
Git creators: Hold your horses Mr Pull, if --bare or --mirror is used with clone or init, your merge won't happen. It remains read-only. And for you Miss Clone, git checkout can be replaced with a git fetch <remote> <srcBranch>:<destBranch> unless you want to use a -s <strategy> with pull which is missing in fetch.
Miss Clone: Somehow I feel like a winner already but let me drop this too: my command applies to all the branches in the repository. Are you that broad minded Mr. Pull?
Mr. Pull: I am broad minded when it comes to fetching all the branch names(just the 'name') from the repo. Because I don't like to fetch unnecessary branches. But the merge will happen only on the current checked out branch. Exclusivity is the name! And in your case too, you only check-out one branch.
Git Creators: Just one addition: Miss Clone can be restricted to just one branch if needed git clone --single-branch --branch <branch name> <url>
clone: copying the remote server repository to your local machine.
pull: get new changes other have added to your local machine.
This is the difference.
Clone is generally used to get remote repo copy.
Pull is used to view other team mates added code, if you are working in teams.
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