What is the difference between the git merge and git rebase commands, and in which situations are they recommended to use?

The git merge and git rebase commands are used to integrate changes from one branch into another, but they do so differently.

• git merge creates a new merge commit that combines the history of both branches, preserving their parallel structure. The history remains branched, clearly showing when and how the merge occurred.

• git rebase re-applies (rewrites) the commits of the current branch on top of another branch, creating a linear history without additional merge commits. This simplifies the history but changes commit hashes.

When to use:

• git merge is suitable when preserving the full history and visibility of how branches were combined is important, such as when working in a team with public branches.

• git rebase is convenient for simplifying history before merging into the main branch, making it more linear and readable, especially when working with local changes.

Example:

# Merging feature branch into main
git checkout main
git merge feature

# Reapplying feature changes on top of main
git checkout feature
git rebase main