# Git Merge vs. Rebase vs. Squash Commit!

What are the differences?

When we **<mark>𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬</mark>** from one Git branch to another, we can use ‘git merge’ or ‘git rebase’. The diagram below shows how the two commands work.

**<mark>𝐆𝐢𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞 This creates a new commit G’ </mark>** in the main branch. G’ ties the histories of both main and feature branches.

**<mark>Git merge is 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. </mark>** Neither the main nor the feature branch is changed.

**<mark>𝐆𝐢𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 Git rebase moves the feature branch histories to the head of the main branch. </mark>** It creates new commits E’, F’, and G’ for each commit in the feature branch.

The benefit of rebase is that **<mark>it has 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲.</mark>**

Rebase can be dangerous if “the golden rule of git rebase” is not followed.

**<mark>𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐢𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 Never use it on public branches!</mark>**

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