How does git merge differ from git rebase? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?

git merge and git rebase are two methods of integrating changes from one branch into another, but they work differently.

• git merge creates a new merge commit, combining the histories of the branches. The history retains all branching and merging, which is useful for understanding, but can be "messy" and complex.

• git rebase moves your commits on top of another branch, rewriting history. The history becomes linear and clean, making it easier to read and debug.

Advantages of git merge:

• Preserves the full branching history.
• Safe, does not rewrite history.

Disadvantages of git merge:

• The history can become confusing.

Advantages of git rebase:

• Clean, linear history.
• Simplifies understanding the sequence of changes.

Disadvantages of git rebase:

• Rewrites history, which can be dangerous for shared branches.
• Requires caution when used in a team.

Example:

# merge
git checkout main
git merge feature-branch

# rebase
git checkout feature-branch
git rebase main