PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Computational Physics · Research software practice, verification and validation · Research software practice, verification and validation
Scientific Computing for Physicists, Ch A repository others can build on: collaboration, history and workflows
Problem
A repository's main branch has commits C1→C2, with C2 the current tip. A branch named boundary is created at C2, and three further commits C3,C4,C5 are made only on boundary; main receives no new commits in the meantime. The boundary branch is then merged into main.
((a)) State the parent commit(s) of main's tip immediately after the merge, and say whether a separate merge commit is created.
((b)) Name the type of merge this is, and explain why in terms of whether main had diverged.
((c)) Suppose instead that, before the merge, main had received one extra commit C6 (made directly on main after C2, independently of boundary). How many parents would the resulting merge commit have, and what type of merge is this now?