As a regular user of Git, I have found myself utilizing its basic functionalities on a daily basis. However, there are advanced features of Git that still leave me in awe. One such feature is the ability to squash commits. In this blog post, I will provide you with an overview of squashing commits and how it can simplify your Git workflow.

For most of my personal projects, where I am the sole developer, I prefer working directly on the master branch. It allows me to make quick and non-breaking changes, such as adding a new blog post or making minor modifications. However, in more complex scenarios, like team-based or open source projects, creating a separate branch for a big feature is the norm.

When working on a feature branch, it is common practice to make frequent commits. This approach provides the advantage of being able to track your progress and easily revert to a previous working state if needed. These quick commits often come with generic messages like “ok,” “trying this,” or “fix dumb mistake.”

Before merging your changes back into the master branch or any other target branch, it is essential to squash your commits. This process involves combining multiple commits into a single commit, thereby avoiding a cluttered commit history. GitHub’s Pull Request (PR) merge workflow automates this process by squashing commits and enabling you to provide a detailed commit message during the merge.

Additionally, you can also squash your commits outside of GitHub. Once you have completed your work on a feature branch, it is recommended to merge the master branch (or any other relevant branch) into it to resolve any conflicts. After checking out the master branch, you can use the following commands:

git merge --squash <your-feature-branch>

git commit

These commands will squash your commits into a single commit. It is worth noting that this is just one of the many possible workflows you can adopt. If you prefer a simpler and less error-prone approach, performing all these actions using GitHub’s user-friendly interface is highly recommended.

In conclusion, squashing Git commits is a powerful technique that allows you to maintain a clean and concise commit history. By reducing the number of individual commits, you can provide a clear narrative of your changes and eliminate unnecessary clutter. Give squashing commits a try in your next Git workflow to enhance your project’s organization and readability.