What is the difference between rebase and merge in Git?

Merge creates a new merge commit, combining the branch histories. Rebase moves your branch commits on top of another, rewriting history.

When to use:

• Merge: Preferable for merging feature branches into the main branch, preserves history.
• Rebase: Good for cleaning up local history before pushing, makes history linear.

Comparison:

Characteristic	Merge	Rebase
Operation type	Creates a merge commit	Rewrites history by moving commits
History	Preserves branch structure, can be complex	Linear, but can be hard to follow
Collaboration	Safer when working in a team	Can cause issues when working with shared branches if history is already published

# Example merge
git checkout main
git merge feature-branch

# Example rebase
git checkout feature-branch
git rebase main
git checkout main
git merge feature-branch // Fast-forward merge