What does a MERGE commit in GIT represent?

A MERGE commit in Git signifies the combination of two or more branches. When a merge occurs, Git takes the changes from the source branch (the one being merged) and integrates them into the target branch (the one that is checked out). This process creates a new commit, known as a merge commit, which has two or more parent commits—one for the target branch and one for the source branch. This allows you to maintain a complete history of all branches and their contributions, reflecting how the project's codebase evolved through various changes and the integration of different feature developments.

Additionally, a merge commit serves a critical role in understanding the project history and the context of changes over time. It illustrates the integration points between branches, which can provide valuable insights when navigating the commit history, debugging, or collaborating with other developers.

In contrast, a commit that contains no changes would not be meaningful in the context of a merge, as a merge inherently involves changes, while the restoration of deleted code is not specifically linked to the concept of merging branches. Likewise, although most commits—including merge commits—can generally be reverted, this option does not accurately describe what a merge commit represents.