When to rebase vs when to merge in Git - Practice Questions

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding Rebase vs Merge Purpose

Which statement best describes when you should use git rebase instead of git merge?

A Use rebase to permanently delete commits from the repository history.

B Use rebase to combine multiple commits into one without changing the commit history.

C Use rebase to create a new branch from an existing branch without merging changes.

D Use rebase to keep a clean, linear history by moving your changes on top of the latest main branch commits.

💡 Hint

Think about how rebase changes the commit history compared to merge.

Rebase moves your branch commits on top of the latest commits from another branch, creating a linear history. This is useful to keep history clean before merging.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

When to Prefer Merge Over Rebase

In which situation is it better to use git merge instead of git rebase?

A When you want to preserve the exact history of how branches diverged and merged, showing all merge commits.

B When you want to rewrite commit messages before integrating changes.

C When you want to delete a branch after integrating its changes.

D When you want to squash all commits into one before merging.

💡 Hint

Consider which method keeps the full branching history visible.

Merge preserves the full history including all branch points and merge commits, which is useful for understanding how development progressed.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Choosing Rebase or Merge in a Team Workflow

Your team uses a shared main branch. You have a feature branch that you want to update with the latest main changes before merging. Which command sequence correctly updates your feature branch using rebase?

Git

git checkout feature
<cursor>

A git fetch origin && git merge origin/main

B git merge main

C git rebase main

D git pull origin main

💡 Hint

Rebase moves your commits on top of the latest main branch commits.

Running git rebase main while on your feature branch reapplies your commits on top of the current main branch, updating your branch cleanly.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Resolving Conflicts During Rebase vs Merge

You ran git rebase main on your feature branch and encountered conflicts. After fixing conflicts, which command should you run to continue the rebase?

A git rebase --continue

B git merge --continue

C git commit -m 'fix conflicts'

D git rebase --abort

💡 Hint

Think about the command to resume a rebase after conflict resolution.

After resolving conflicts during a rebase, git rebase --continue tells Git to proceed with applying the remaining commits.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Best Practice for Public Branches

Which practice is recommended when working with branches shared publicly by others?

A Always rebase public branches to keep history clean.

B Avoid rebasing public branches to prevent rewriting shared history.

C Delete public branches frequently to reduce clutter.

D Force push after rebasing public branches to update everyone.

💡 Hint

Consider the impact of rewriting history on others who use the branch.

Rebasing rewrites commit history. Doing this on public branches can confuse collaborators and cause problems. It's safer to merge public branches.