What does "approve" mean in programming?

approve is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.

Definition

To mark a pull request as reviewed and ready to merge. An approval signals that the reviewer has read the code, understands the changes, and believes they are correct and safe to merge.

Example

"Approve the pull request when you are confident the code is correct."

Word forms

Form	Type	Meaning	Example
approve	verb (infinitive)	To mark a pull request as ready to merge after reviewing it	"Approve the pull request once you are satisfied with the changes."
approved	past tense	Already marked as ready to merge	"The pull request was approved by two reviewers."
approving	gerund	The act of marking a pull request as ready to merge	"Approving without reading the diff carefully is not a good practice."

Related terms

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