How do I resolve merge conflicts in a Git repository?

To resolve merge conflicts in Git, follow these steps:

1. Identify Conflicted Files

• When a conflict occurs during a merge or rebase, Git will list the conflicted files.

   git status

• Look for files under “Unmerged paths”.

2. Open the Conflicted Files

• Use a text editor or IDE to open files marked with conflict markers:
  plaintext
  • <<<<<<< HEAD Your current branch's changes
  • ======= Incoming branch's changes
  • >>>>>>> branch-name
• <<<<<<< HEAD to =======: Your changes (current branch).
• ======= to >>>>>>> branch-name: Incoming changes (from the merged branch).

3. Resolve the Conflicts

• Choose one version:
  • Keep your changes: Delete the incoming code and markers.
  • Keep incoming changes: Delete your code and markers.
  • Combine both: Manually edit the code to merge changes (e.g., keep both features).
• Remove all conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>).

4. Stage the Resolved Files

   git add <file1> <file2>  # Stage resolved files

• Use git add . to stage all resolved files.

5. Complete the Merge/Rebase

• For a merge:
  bash git commit -m "Resolved merge conflicts"
• For a rebase:
  bash git rebase --continue

Optional Tools & Commands

• Use a merge tool:

  git mergetool  # Launches a visual tool (e.g., vimdiff, VS Code)

• Abort the merge/rebase:

  git merge --abort      # Cancel a merge
  git rebase --abort     # Cancel a rebase

• Checkout specific versions:

  git checkout --ours <file>   # Keep your branch's version
  git checkout --theirs <file> # Keep the incoming branch's version

Example Workflow

1. Merge feature-branch into main and hit a conflict:

   git checkout main
   git merge feature-branch

2. Resolve conflicts in app.js using an editor.
3. Stage and commit:

   git add app.js
   git commit -m "Merge feature-branch and resolve conflicts"

Tips to Avoid Conflicts

• Pull changes frequently: git pull origin main.
• Communicate with your team about overlapping changes.
• Use smaller, focused commits.

By following these steps, you’ll efficiently resolve merge conflicts and keep your project history clean!