Merging Branches
📌 Covered in this chapter:
Fast-Forward Merge · Three-Way Merge · Merge Commits · Deleting Merged Branches
Combine the history of two branches using git merge, understanding fast-forward vs three-way merges.
1Merging Branches — What You'll Learn
Combine the history of two branches using git merge, understanding fast-forward vs three-way merges.
Here's everything this chapter covers, in the order you'll learn it:
- What merging does
- Fast-forward merges (no divergent history)
- Three-way merges (creates a merge commit)
- Merging a feature branch into main
- Understanding the resulting merge commit
- No-fast-forward merges (--no-ff)
- Verifying the merge result
- Deleting a branch after it's merged
- Merge best practices
- An introduction to merge conflicts (Phase 4, next chapter)
2Working Example
💻 Example: Merging Branches
Bash
git switch main
git pull origin main
git merge feature/java-tutorial
git branch -d feature/java-tutorial3Best Practices & Common Pitfalls
💡 Key things to remember:
- Always pull the latest main before merging your feature branch into it, to reduce the chance of conflicts.
- git branch -d only deletes a branch that's already fully merged — Git protects you from silently losing unmerged work.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q What's the most important thing to understand about merging branches?
Focus on: Fast-Forward Merge · Three-Way Merge · Merge Commits · Deleting Merged Branches. These are the core building blocks this chapter's examples are built around, and they show up repeatedly in later chapters of this course.
Q Is merging branches something I'll use often in real projects?
Yes — every concept in this chapter reflects a real, everyday part of professional Git and GitHub workflows, not just a theoretical exercise.