Rebasing and Cherry-Picking

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Vivesh

Advanced Git Techniques: Rebasing and Cherry-Picking

1. Git Rebase

Git rebase is used to integrate changes from one branch into another while maintaining a cleaner history.

Key Concepts:
- Moves or replays commits from one branch onto another.
- Often used to keep a feature branch updated with changes from the main branch (e.g., main or master).
Commands:
- Interactive Rebase:
```
git rebase -i HEAD~n
```
Allows you to rewrite commit history for the last n commits (e.g., squashing, editing messages).
- Rebase a Feature Branch:
```
git checkout feature-branch
git rebase main
```
Moves the feature-branch commits on top of main.
Best Practices:
- Avoid rebasing shared branches to prevent conflicts.
- Use interactive rebases to clean up commit history before merging.

2. Git Cherry-Pick

Git cherry-pick applies specific commits from one branch to another.

Key Concepts:
- Useful when you want to bring in a particular change without merging the entire branch.
- Can apply one or multiple commits.
Commands:
- Apply a Single Commit:
```
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
```
- Apply Multiple Commits:
```
git cherry-pick <commit-hash1> <commit-hash2>
```
- Handle Conflicts During Cherry-Pick: If conflicts occur, resolve them, then use:
```
git cherry-pick --continue
```
Use Cases:
- Backporting a bug fix to an older release branch.
- Applying specific changes to multiple branches without merging.

Comparison

Technique	Purpose	Usage Scenario
Rebase	Reorganizes commit history for clarity.	Updating a feature branch with main branch.
Cherry-Pick	Applies specific commits to another branch.	Backporting bug fixes or applying hotfixes.

Task: Practice Advanced Git Techniques on Your Git Repository

1. Setup a Sample Repository

Initialize a Repository:

   mkdir git-advanced-techniques
   cd git-advanced-techniques
   git init

Create and Commit Changes:

   echo "File A, initial content" > fileA.txt
   git add fileA.txt
   git commit -m "Initial commit for fileA"

   echo "File B, initial content" > fileB.txt
   git add fileB.txt
   git commit -m "Initial commit for fileB"

Create a Feature Branch:

   git checkout -b feature-branch
   echo "New feature content" >> fileA.txt
   git commit -am "Add new feature to fileA"

Switch Back to Main Branch:

   git checkout main

2. Practice Git Rebase

Update feature-branch with Changes from main:

Add a new change to main:

 echo "Update on main branch" >> fileB.txt
 git commit -am "Update fileB on main branch"

Rebase feature-branch onto main:

 git checkout feature-branch
 git rebase main

If there are conflicts, resolve them and continue:

 git status
 # Edit conflicting files
 git add <conflicting-files>
 git rebase --continue

Perform an Interactive Rebase:
- Edit commit history on feature-branch:
```
 git rebase -i HEAD~2
```

Choose actions like squash or edit during the rebase process.

3. Practice Git Cherry-Pick

Create a New Branch for Cherry-Picking:

   git checkout -b hotfix-branch

Apply a Specific Commit:
- Identify the commit hash from the log:
```
 git log --oneline
```

Cherry-pick a specific commit from feature-branch:
```
 git cherry-pick <commit-hash>
```

Handle Conflicts (if any):

Resolve conflicts and continue:

 git status
 # Fix conflicts
 git add <conflicting-files>
 git cherry-pick --continue

4. Verify the Results

Use git log --oneline --graph to visualize your commit history after rebasing or cherry-picking:

  git log --oneline --graph --all

Scenario Application

If you're working on a larger project:

Use rebase to update your feature branch with the latest changes from main to avoid merge clutter.
Use cherry-pick to apply bug fixes to both the development and production branches without merging unrelated commits.

Happy Learning !!!

This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Vivesh

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