Git is a version control system that is on the verge of becoming ubiquitous in the IT world. Many data platforms and tools nowadays provide an integration for Git or strive to adapt their formats to make them compatible with Git for reaping the full benefits of contemporary version control. Recent examples of this are the ‘.tmdl’ file format for Power BI projects and the support for Git built into Microsoft Fabric. Git enables a safer, better, and more productive way of working. Yet one does need to know how to work with Git and deal with the challenges that come from using Git.

One challenge stems from using branches in Git to independently work on different features. At one point or another, these branches need to be merged back into the main solution, which can lead to merge conflicts when files have been altered in different ways. Being able to resolve these merge conflicts in a consistent and correct way is crucial. Microsoft Fabric promotes the use of branches, yet severely lacks the capabilities to optimally deal with merge conflicts in the Fabric UI. One frequent recommendation is to avoid merge conflicts altogether, which, in all honesty, won’t work. You will need to deal with them, which is not that hard if you know what you’re doing.

We will explorer what kind of merge conflicts typically occur when working with Fabric items. We will discuss when the means of Fabric of resolving a merge conflict can be used and when they better not be used. In this case, we show advanced techniques to solving merge conflicts using a combination of Fabric and native Git capabilities. And sometimes the only solution is to work entirely within Git. Whatever it may be, this session will give you the knowledge to be able to deal with any kind of merge conflicts that may arise, from the most basic issue to more complicated conflicts.

Being able to work with Git is as essential for Microsoft Fabric as working with Spark notebooks or knowing delta parquet. And you will become acquainted with merge conflicts sooner than later, so why not be prepared when the need arises?