Introduction

• git merge command is used to update your current local branch with changes from the remote branch (like origin/main).
• Here, you are using this command after running git fetch, which downloads the latest changes from the remote server.
• This method gives you more control than git pull, because you can see the changes first before merging them into your branch.

How to use git merge ?

1. Fetch Changes :-
   • In previous git fetch tutorial, we have retrieved the latest changes from the GitHub repository.
     
     • Click Here to read previous tutorial.
   • Below are the commands with output:
     
2. Merge Changes in Another Local Repository :-
   • Now, in another local directory where we have cloned the repository, we will merge the latest changes from the original location.
   • Syntax :
     • git merge FETCH_HEAD
   • The command will show the following output:
     
     This command merge the latest changes from the specified repository.

Different ways to use git merge ?

1. Merging Changes Locally:
   • Syntax :
     • git merge FETCH_HEAD
   • Example:
     • git merge FETCH_HEAD
   • Merges fetched changes from another local repository after using git fetch.
2. Merging a Local Branch into the Current Branch:
   • Syntax :
     • git merge <branch-name>
   • Example:
     • git merge feature-branch
   • Merges feature-branch into the currently checked-out branch.
3. Abort a Merge in Case of Conflict:
   • Syntax :
     • git merge --abort
   • If conflicts occur during merging, this command cancels the merge process.
4. Merging After Fetching from a Remote Repository (Most Common):
   • Syntax :
     • git merge origin/<branch-name>
   • Example :
     • git merge origin/main
   • Merges the latest changes from the remote main branch into your local branch after fetching updates.
5. Fast-Forward Merge (If No Diverging Changes Exist) (Commonly Used) :
   • Syntax :
     • git merge --ff-only <branch-name>
   • Exmaple :
     • git merge --ff-only origin/main
   • Merges the remote branch only if no conflicting changes exist.
6. Squash Merge (Combine Multiple Commits into One Before Merging) (Commonly Used for Clean History) :
   • Syntax :
     • git merge --squash <branch-name>
   • Example :
     • git merge --squash feature-branch
   • Combines all commits from feature-branch into a single commit before merging.