Best Practices for Avoiding and Resolving Merge Conflicts

Avoiding Merge Conflicts

  1. Commit and Push Frequently:

    Regularly commit your changes and push them to the remote repository. This reduces the chances of large, divergent code bases and minimises the risk of conflicts when merging later.

  2. Pull/Fetch Changes Regularly:

    Frequently pull or fetch changes from the main or shared branch to keep your local branch up-to-date with the latest changes. This helps you stay in sync with other developers’ work and reduces the chances of conflicts.

  3. Work on Feature-Specific Branches:

    Use separate branches for each feature or bug fix, and avoid working directly on the main branch. This isolates your work and prevents conflicts with other developers working on different parts of the codebase.

  4. Coordinate with Team Members:

    Communicate with your team to avoid working on the same files or sections of the codebase simultaneously. Knowing who is working on what can help prevent overlapping changes.

  5. Use Smaller Pull Requests (PRs):

    Create small, focused pull requests that address one feature or fix at a time. Smaller PRs are easier to review and less likely to conflict with other changes.

  6. Avoid Long-Running Branches:

    Try not to let branches go too long without being merged. The longer a branch is left without merging, the more likely it is that conflicts will arise.

  7. Rebase Regularly:

    Rebase your branch regularly onto the main branch to keep it updated and reduce the risk of conflicts. Rebasing also ensures a cleaner history by applying your changes on top of the latest code.

Resolving Merge Conflicts

  1. Understand the Conflict Markers:

    When a conflict occurs, Git places special conflict markers («««<, =======, »»»>) in the conflicting file. Carefully review the changes, understanding what each section of the markers represents before resolving the conflict.

  2. Use a Visual Merge Tool:

    Use visual merge tools like those built into GitHub to view changes side-by-side and help resolve conflicts in a user-friendly interface. Many IDEs also have built-in conflict resolution tools.

  3. Resolve Conflicts Based on Business Logic:

    When resolving conflicts, make decisions based on the overall business requirements and functionality. Consider which changes are necessary and make sure that the resolution integrates the best parts of both conflicting changes.

  4. Test After Resolving Conflicts:

    Always run tests and check that the application works as expected after resolving conflicts. This ensures that your resolution hasn’t introduced any bugs or regressions.

  5. Communicate with the Team:

    If you’re unsure how to resolve a conflict, reach out to the team member whose changes conflict with yours. They can help clarify why their changes were made, and you can collaborate to resolve the conflict effectively.

  6. Commit the Resolved Changes:

    After resolving conflicts, stage the resolved files (git add ), and commit the merge resolution. Make sure to provide a clear commit message explaining that you resolved conflicts.

  7. Use Continuous Integration (CI) to Catch Conflicts Early:

    Use CI tools to test your code after merging or rebasing. CI systems can automatically detect issues and conflicts in your code, helping you address them early in the process.