What is the difference between the merge and rebase commands in the Git version control system?

merge combines branches by creating a new commit with two parents, preserving the history of changes. rebase moves commits of one branch onto another, linearizing the history but changing commit hashes.

• With merge:

  • A new merge commit is created.
  • The branch history remains explicit.
  • Conflicts may occur, which are resolved in the new commit.

  # Example of using merge
  git checkout feature-branch
  git merge main
  # Resolve conflicts if any
  git commit -m "Merge main into feature-branch"
  

• With rebase:

  • Commits are "moved" and applied on top of the target branch.
  • The history becomes linear, which may look "cleaner".
  • Hashes of moved commits change.
  • Conflicts may occur for each commit being rebased.
  • Not recommended for branches that are already published and used by others, as it rewrites history.

  # Example of using rebase
  git checkout feature-branch
  git rebase main
  # Resolve conflicts if any (for each conflicting commit)
  git add .
  git rebase --continue
  # or git rebase --skip to skip a commit
  # or git rebase --abort to cancel
  

Feature	merge	rebase
History rewriting	Preserves history	Rewrites history (overwrites)
Commits	Creates a merge commit	Moves existing commits
Linear history	No (branches diverge)	Yes (simplifies history)
Approach	Non-destructive	Potentially destructive
Applicability	Public, shared branches	Local, personal branches