Rebasing Basics
Keep your history perfectly linear by moving commits to a new base.
The git rebase command
git rebase is the process of moving or combining a sequence of commits to a new base commit.
Internally, Git accomplishes this by creating entirely new commits and applying them to the specified base, effectively rewriting the project history to make it linear.
Why it matters
The primary reason for rebasing is to maintain a perfectly linear and clean project history without superfluous merge commits.
A clean history makes it significantly easier to navigate, understand when bugs were introduced, and ensures a clean fast-forward merge of feature branches back into the main branch.
How it works
Rebasing changes the base of your branch from one commit to another.
It detaches your sequence of commits from their original base, creates brand new commits with identical content changes, and re-attaches (or 're-plays') them onto the tip of the new base branch.
Check yourself
Pick an answer to lock it in, then read why. Getting one wrong is part of how it sticks.
Remember this
- Rebase replays your commits onto a new base.
- It creates a perfectly linear history.
- Golden Rule: NEVER rebase public, shared branches.
- Rebased commits are entirely new commits with new hashes.
Done with this concept?
Mark it complete to track your progress. No login needed.