Git rebase is a powerful command used in version control to rewrite commit history by applying commits from one branch onto another. This can be particularly useful for cleaning up a messy commit history, integrating changes from one branch into another with a more linear history, or squashing multiple commits into a single one for clarity.
Here are several examples of using `git rebase` with different scenarios:
1. **Rebase current branch onto master:** “`bash git checkout feature_branch git rebase master “` This example switches to `feature_branch`, then applies the commits from `master` onto it, effectively integrating the latest changes from `master` into `feature_branch`.
2. **Interactive rebase to squash commits:** “`bash git rebase -i HEAD~3 “` Here, `-i` stands for interactive mode, allowing you to squash, edit, reorder, or drop commits interactively. `HEAD~3` specifies the last 3 commits from the current branch.
3. **Rebase with a specific upstream branch:** “`bash git rebase origin/develop “` This command rebases the current branch onto `origin/develop`, ensuring your changes are applied on top of the latest changes in the remote `develop` branch.
4. **Rebase and skip applying empty commits:** “`bash git rebase –skip-empty “` Using `–skip-empty` ensures that any empty commits (those with no changes) are not applied during the rebase process, keeping the history clean.
5. **Rebase and preserve merge commits:** “`bash git rebase –preserve-merges “` This option preserves merge commits from the branch being rebased, maintaining the full history and merge relationships in the rebased branch.
6. **Rebase while skipping specific commits:** “`bash git rebase –onto master feature_branch~2 “` Using `–onto` allows you to rebase onto a different base (here `master`) and skip a specified number of commits (`feature_branch~2` skips the last 2 commits on `feature_branch`).
7. **Rebase and edit a specific commit:** “`bash git rebase -i HEAD~4 “` In interactive mode, you can mark a commit as ‘edit’, allowing you to amend its content, split it into smaller commits, or reword the commit message during the rebase process.
8. **Rebase and preserve commit timestamps:** “`bash git rebase –committer-date-is-author-date “` This option preserves the original author date as the commit date during the rebase, keeping the chronological order intact based on authorship.
9. **Rebase and continue after resolving conflicts:** “`bash git rebase –continue “` After resolving conflicts during a rebase operation, `–continue` allows you to proceed with applying the next set of commits.
10. **Abort a rebase operation:** “`bash git rebase –abort “` If you encounter issues or decide to cancel the rebase process, `–abort` resets the branch to its state before the rebase began.
To verify if a `git rebase` command has been executed successfully, you can follow these steps: 1. Use `git log` to check the commit history and verify if the desired changes or reorganization of commits is reflected. 2. Compare the commit history before and after the rebase operation to ensure the expected changes have been applied correctly.
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