World 3: Parallel Universes

Read conflict markers

You will learn: why a merge stops, and how to read Git's conflict markers.

The problem

~/diary $ git merge cakeAuto-merging index.htmlCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in index.htmlAutomatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

You merge cake into main, and Git stops. CONFLICT! Did you break your diary?

Watch

Nothing broke. Both branches wrote a different day 2 on the same line. That’s a . Git can’t guess, so it asks you.

Watch

~/diary $ git merge cakeAuto-merging index.htmlCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in index.htmlAutomatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.~/diary $ cat index.html<h1>My Diary</h1><p>Day 1: I learned Git.</p><<<<<<< HEAD<p>Day 2: I learned branches.</p>=======<p>Day 2: I baked a cake.</p>>>>>>>> cake

Git wrote both versions into the file. fence them in. Your line sits on top. Theirs sits below.

Try it

Find the fences.

Tap the three marker lines.

~/diary $ git merge cake~/diary $ cat index.html

0 of 3 found

Hint

They start with seven <, seven = or seven >.

Predict

Which day 2 line came from your branch, main?

Check

~/diary $ git merge cakeAuto-merging index.htmlCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in index.htmlAutomatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.~/diary $ git statusOn branch mainYou have unmerged paths.  (fix conflicts and run "git commit")  (use "git merge --abort" to abort the merge)Unmerged paths:  (use "git add <file>..." to mark resolution)        both modified:   index.htmlno changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

Lost mid-merge? Run git status. It lists the files to fix as both modified. It even names your next steps.

You did it!

You can now read conflict markers without panic.

Go deeper (optional)

During a conflict, git diff shows both sides at once. Want to see the line before either change? Run git config --global merge.conflictStyle diff3. Then a part starting with ||||||| shows the old base line.

~/diary $ git merge cakeAuto-merging index.htmlCONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in index.htmlAutomatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.~/diary $ git diffdiff --cc index.htmlindex efaaee0,f4c5ff0..0000000--- a/index.html+++ b/index.html@@@ -1,3 -1,3 +1,7 @@@  <h1>My Diary</h1>  <p>Day 1: I learned Git.</p>++<<<<<<< HEAD +<p>Day 2: I learned branches.</p>++=======+ <p>Day 2: I baked a cake.</p>++>>>>>>> cake