What happens in a fast forward merge?

In fast-forward merge, git simply moves the source branch pointer to the target branch pointer without creating an extra merge commit. Next, we create a branch called feature branch. In git a branch is nothing but a pointer to a commit.

What is the difference between a merge and a fast forward merge?

The –no-ff flag prevents git merge from executing a “fast-forward” if it detects that your current HEAD is an ancestor of the commit you’re trying to merge. A fast-forward is when, instead of constructing a merge commit, git just moves your branch pointer to point at the incoming commit.

What is a fast forward merge?

Fast Forward Merge A fast-forward merge can occur when there is a linear path from the current branch tip to the target branch. Instead of “actually” merging the branches, all Git has to do to integrate the histories is move (i.e., “fast forward”) the current branch tip up to the target branch tip.

When is a fast forward merge not possible?

When a fast-forward merge is not possible, the user is given the option to rebase. Now, when you visit the merge request page, you will be able to accept it only if a fast-forward merge is possible. If a fast-forward merge is not possible but a conflict free rebase is possible, a rebase button will be offered.

How does Fast Forward merge work in Git?

With fast-forward merge requests, you can retain a linear Git history and a way to accept merge requests without creating merge commits. When the fast-forward merge ( –ff-only) setting is enabled, no merge commits are created and all merges are fast-forwarded, which means that merging is only allowed if the branch can be fast-forwarded.

When to merge feature branch with no FF?

It is clear from your history when you do feature branch merging with –no-ff. If you do not care about such thing – you could probably get away with FF whenever it is possible. Thus you will have more svn-like feeling of workflow.

How to merge a hotfix branch into a master branch?

Suppose you’ve decided that your issue #53 work is complete and ready to be merged into your master branch. In order to do that, you’ll merge your iss53 branch into master, much like you merged your hotfix branch earlier. All you have to do is check out the branch you wish to merge into and then run the git merge command: