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Rebase

Figure 3 shows 2 rail beds. The low bed is the old base commit. The high bed is the new base commit. The gantry is the rebase operation.

The operation

Rebase moves your commits to a new base. Rebase does not merge. Rebase takes each commit of your branch. Rebase puts the commit on the new base. The commit has a new identifier after the rebase.

Figure 3 shows this. The commits D and E are on the old base A. After the rebase, D and E are on the new base B. The new commits have the names D' and E'.

The new identifiers

Git makes a new commit for each commit of your branch. The new commit has the same changes. The new commit has a different parent. A different parent makes a different identifier.

This is the important point of rebase. The identifiers of your commits change.

WARNING: Do not rebase a branch that other persons use. The new identifiers cause problems for the other persons.

Rebase or merge

Use a merge to keep the history of both branches. Use a rebase to make a straight history.

A merge makes a merge commit. A rebase makes no merge commit.

Use the figure

  1. Click the lever, or press the r key.
  2. The gantry moves the wagon D to the high bed.
  3. The gantry moves the wagon E to the high bed.
  4. The dashed outline shows the old position of each wagon.

The figure returns to the start after a short time.