1.
Learn Version Control with Git
Dealing with Merge Conflicts in Git

2.
Dealing with Merge Conflicts
You Can’t Break Anything!
1. Git handles most cases automatically for you.
2. Conflicts only happen locally, on your machine.
You only ever handicap yourself (not your team).
3. You can always undo and start fresh. Don’t panic!

3.
Dealing with Merge Conflicts
How a Conflict Happens
Modifies line 16 in “about.html”:
(old) <div>About</div>
(new) <div>About Us</div>
Modifies the same line in in the same file:
(old) <div>About</div>
(new) <div>About Tower</div>
C1
C2 contact-form
master HEAD
C3
C4
merge commit
C5

4.
Dealing with Merge Conflicts
What a Conflict Really Is
1. Two contradictory versions (“A” and “B”) of a file.
2. …just funny letters in a text file.

5.
Dealing with Merge Conflicts
Understanding What Happened
Two developers modified the
same file on the same line(s).
The 90% case…
Other scenarios happen less
frequently (here: one developer
modified a file, while the other
deleted it).

6.
Dealing with Merge Conflicts
Solving a Conflict
(a) Use your editor / IDE to modify
the file by hand. Save it in the state
you want it to be.
(b) Use a dedicated Merge Tool.
(c) Use a GUI client like Tower to
make things easier.
= deciding, how the file should finally look

7.
Dealing with Merge Conflicts
Finishing a Conflict Resolution
1. Save the resolved file.
2. Stage (git add) this change.
3. Commit like any other change.
= marks as resolved
(might already be
done by external tool)

8.
Learn Git with our free online book on
www.git-tower.com/learn