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Software Engineering vocabulary · Version Control

Interactive rebase

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In software engineering, interactive rebase means: A Git rebase mode that lets you reorder, combine, edit, or remove commits while rewriting branch history.

In Turkish: etkileşimli rebase

How it is used

Used in Git workflows before opening or updating a pull request. Common for squashing commits, rewording messages, dropping mistakes, and cleaning feature-branch history.

Example sentences

  1. Before opening the pull request, I used interactive rebase to squash six noisy commits into one clear change set for review.

    Here, the term means editing the commit sequence by hand so the shared history becomes shorter, clearer, and easier for reviewers to follow.

  2. The lead asked me to run interactive rebase because two commits were in the wrong order and one message confused the reviewer.

    In this example, it refers to using Git's editable rebase plan to reorder commits and rewrite a misleading commit message before sharing changes.

Common collocations

  • run interactive rebase
  • interactive rebase todo list
  • interactive rebase session
  • GitThe most widely used version control system: a free, open-source tool that tracks changes in code and lets many developers work on the same project.
  • rebaseIn Git, to move your branch's commits so that they start from a newer point, usually the latest main, which gives a cleaner, straight-line history.

More terms: Version Control

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