squashing_commits.md

Git - Squashing Commits - Solution

1. In a git repository, create a new file with the content "Mario" and commit the change:

echo "Mario" > new_file
git add new_file
git commit -m "New file"

2. Make a change to the content of the file you just created so it becomes "Mario & Luigi," then create another commit:

echo "Mario & Luigi" > new_file
git commit -a -m "Added Luigi"

3. Verify you have two separate commits by running:

git log

4. Squash the two commits you've created into one commit:

git rebase -i HEAD~2

You should see something similar to:

pick 5412076 New file
pick 4016808 Added Luigi

Change pick to squash:

pick 5412076 New file
squash 4016808 Added Luigi

Save it and provide a commit message for the squashed commit.

Note: If running git rebase -i HEAD~2 returns a fatal error (e.g., "invalid upstream 'HEAD~2'"), that usually means your second commit is actually the root commit and there's no valid parent before it. In that case, you can either:

• Use git rebase -i --root to allow rewriting the root commit, or
• Create an initial commit before these two commits so that HEAD~2 points to valid commits.

After you complete the exercise

Answer the following:

• What is the reason for squashing commits?
  History becomes cleaner and it's easier to track changes without many small commits like "removed a character," for example.

• Is it possible to squash more than 2 commits?
  Yes.