What is a Git merge used for?

A Git merge is utilized to move changes from one branch to another, which is the fundamental purpose of the operation. When you perform a merge, you are combining the histories of two different branches, allowing you to integrate the changes from one branch—typically a feature branch or any alternate line of development—into another, often the main or production branch. This process enables teams to collaborate effectively by enabling them to develop features in isolation and then combine their work.

In a typical workflow, you may have multiple branches for various features or fixes being developed concurrently. Once a feature is complete, the developer will use a merge operation to bring that feature branch’s changes back into the main branch, ensuring that all the contributions are integrated and up-to-date. This promotes a clean and organized repository while maintaining the history of changes, which can be crucial for tracking development progress and identifying where specific changes originated.

Other options involve different aspects of Git but do not pertain directly to the merging process. Creating a new branch pertains to branch management, deleting files relates to file maintenance, and resetting changes involves undoing commits rather than integrating them. Thus, the core function of a Git merge lies in the integration of changes between branches.