In this module, we will explore some advanced Git commands that will allow you to manage your workflow more efficiently and flexibly. These include rebase, cherry-pick, stash, reset, and bisect.

Rebase

What is rebase?

Rebase is a way to integrate changes from one branch to another, applying your commits on top of the tip of another branch. Unlike merge, rebase rewrites the project history.

Basic usage of rebase

Suppose you have a feature branch and you want to integrate the latest changes from main:

bash

This command takes the changes from feature and applies them immediately after the most recent commits in main.

Interactive rebase

Interactive rebase allows you to rewrite commit history by combining, reordering, or editing commits. It is useful for cleaning up history before merging:

bash

Replace n with the number of commits you want to rewrite. This will open a text editor and show a list of commits.

• pick: Use the commit as is.
• reword: Modify the commit message.
• edit: Edit the commit (content or message).
• squash: Combine the commit with the previous one.

Cherry-pick

What is cherry-pick?

cherry-pick allows you to apply a specific commit from another branch to your current branch. It is useful when you need to apply a specific change without merging the entire branch.

Basic usage of cherry-pick

To apply a specific commit to the current branch:

bash

Replace <commit-hash> with the identifier of the commit you want to apply.

Stash

What is stash?

The stash command temporarily saves your work without committing it, allowing you to work on something else without losing your changes.

Basic usage of stash

To save your changes temporarily:

bash

To retrieve the saved changes:

bash

To see the list of stored stashes:

bash

To apply and delete the stash:

bash

Reset

What is reset?

reset allows you to revert the repository to a previous state, modifying the commit history. There are three reset modes: --soft, --mixed, and --hard.

Basic usage of reset

To reset to the specified commit:

bash

• --soft: Keeps your changes in the staging area.
• --mixed: Keeps your changes in the working directory.
• --hard: Discards all changes in the working directory.

Bisect

What is bisect?

bisect helps find a specific commit that introduced a bug using a binary search.

Basic usage of bisect

1. Start bisect:

   bash
   

2. Mark the bad commit:

   bash
   

3. Mark the good commit:

   bash
   

Git will automatically search for the commit that introduced the bug.

Practical Examples

Using rebase to update a feature branch

1. Make changes and commits in feature:

   bash
   

2. Update feature with the latest changes from main:

   bash
   

Using cherry-pick to apply a specific commit

1. Find and apply a commit from feature to main:

   bash
   

Using stash to save temporary changes

1. Save your temporary changes:

   bash
   

2. Retrieve the changes when ready:

   bash
   

Using bisect to find a problematic commit

1. Start the bisect:

   bash
   

2. Mark the commits as good or bad until you find the problematic commit.

Best Practices and Tips

• Use interactive rebase to clean up history before merging.
• Do cherry-pick only when you need to apply specific changes, not the entire branch.
• Use stash for temporary changes and keep the working directory clean.
• Use bisect to efficiently find problematic commits.

With these advanced techniques, you can better manage your workflow and resolve complex situations in Git. In the next module, you will learn about automation with Git hooks.