What are the differences between the rebase and merge commands when combining branches in Git?

Main differences between git merge and git rebase:

• git merge combines two branches, creating a new merge commit that preserves the history of both branches. The branching history is maintained, which can lead to a more complex commit graph.

• git rebase moves commits from one branch onto another, rewriting history. This results in a linear history without merge commits.

Example:

If you have a feature branch diverged from main, and new commits appear in main:

• git merge main in the feature branch will create a merge commit, preserving both histories.

• git rebase main will reapply the commits of feature on top of the latest commits in main, as if they were created after them.

The choice depends on team preferences: merge preserves branch history, while rebase makes the history cleaner and linear.