In git, what is the difference between merge --squash and rebase?

Question

I'm new to git and I'm trying to understand the difference between a squash and a rebase. As I understand it you perform a squash when doing a rebase.

Answer 1

Git merge squash merges a tree (a sequence of commits) into a single commit. That is, it squashes all changes made in n commits into a single commit.

On the other hand rebasing is re-basing, that is, choosing a new base (parent commit) for a tree. Maybe the mercurial term for this is more clear: they call it transplant because it's just that: picking a new ground (parent commit, root) for a tree.

When doing an interactive rebase, you're given the option to either squash, pick, edit or skip the commits you are going to rebase.