Merging Doesn't Delete the Branch

Merge feature/add-about into main and look at the log: the two point to the very same commit. You merged, yet feature/add-about is still there. If you assumed a merge "absorbs" a branch and makes it disappear, this might throw you off.

A merge carries changes, not the branch label itself. Once a label has done its job, it simply stays put. That's why many teams clean up afterward with git branch -d feature/add-about. Skip it, and your branch list slowly fills up with stale labels.

But don't worry: deleting the label never deletes the work. The commits live on inside main. Think of a branch as a sticky note for work in progress, and a merge as binding that note into the book. Once it's bound, you can peel the note off.