Fast-Forward Merge

Merging combines another branch's work into yours. But sometimes there is nothing to combine.

If your branch has not moved since the two split, the other branch is simply ahead of you. Git does not need a new commit for that — it can just slide your branch pointer forward. That is a fast-forward.

Exercises

1. Exercise 1. feature is one commit ahead of main, and main has not moved since they split. Merge feature into main.
2. Exercise 2. The same situation, but feature is now three commits ahead. Merge it — note that a fast-forward still creates nothing new, however far ahead the branch is.