What does 'perform rebase on the main branch' mean?

'Performing a rebase onto the main branch' means applying commits from one branch (usually a feature being developed) on top of the latest version of the main branch (for example, main or master). This rewrites the commit history, making it linear and clean.

The process includes:

1. Creating a temporary file with a list of commits from the current branch.
2. Moving the HEAD pointer to the latest commit of the main branch.
3. Sequentially applying commits from the temporary file onto the new tip.

Advantages:

• A cleaner and linear commit history.
• Avoiding 'merge' commits that can clutter the history.
• Simplifying change tracking.

Disadvantages:

• Rewrites history, which can be dangerous for publicly shared branches.
• May require resolving conflicts at each commit application.

Example commands:

# Switch to the branch you want to rebase
git checkout feature/my-new-feature

# Perform rebase onto the main branch (e.g., main)
git rebase main

In case of conflicts:

# Resolve conflicts in files
# Add changed files to staging
git add .

# Continue rebase
git rebase --continue

To abort the rebase:

git rebase --abort