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Lesson

Git Branch

10 min reading

Free Course

Git Branch

Branches in Git are lightweight, moveable pointers to specific commits, enabling isolated feature development without affecting the main codebase.

Git Branching Model

gitGraph
   commit id: "Initial Commit"
   commit id: "Add Core Files"
   branch feature/auth
   checkout feature/auth
   commit id: "Build Auth Form"
   commit id: "Add Token Storage"
   checkout main
   commit id: "Hotfix Security Patch"
   merge feature/auth

Core Concepts & Explanation

Why Use Branches?

Branches let you work on different parts of a project, like new features or bug fixes, without interfering with the main branch.

Common Reasons to Create a Branch

Developing a new feature
Fixing a bug
Experimenting with ideas

Let's say you have a large project, and you need to update the design on it.

How would that work without and with Git:

Without Git:

Make copies of all the relevant files to avoid impacting the live version
Start working with the design and find that code depend on code in other files, that also need to be changed!
Make copies of the dependant files as well. Making sure that every file dependency references the correct file name
EMERGENCY! There is an unrelated error somewhere else in the project that needs to be fixed ASAP!
Save all your files, making a note of the names of the copies you were working on
Work on the unrelated error and update the code to fix it
Go back to the design, and finish the work there
Copy the code or rename the files, so the updated design is on the live version
(2 weeks later, you realize that the unrelated error was not fixed in the new design version because you copied the files before the fix)

With Git:

With a new branch called new-design, edit the code directly without impacting the main branch
EMERGENCY! There is an unrelated error somewhere else in the project that needs to be fixed ASAP!
Create a new branch from the main project called small-error-fix
Fix the unrelated error and merge the small-error-fix branch with the main branch
You go back to the new-design branch, and finish the work there
Merge the new-design branch with main (getting alerted to the small error fix that you were missing)

Branches allow you to work on different parts of a project without impacting the main branch.

When the work is complete, a branch can be merged with the main project.

You can even switch between branches and work on different projects without them interfering with each other.

Branching in Git is very lightweight and fast!

Creating a New Branch

Let's say you want to add a new feature. You can create a new branch for it.

Let add some new features to our index.html page.

We are working in our local repository, and we do not want to disturb or possibly wreck the main project.

So we create a new branch:

Example
git branch hello-world-images

Now we created a new branch called "hello-world-images"

Listing All Branches

Let's confirm that we have created a new branch.

To see all branches in your repository, use:

Example
git branch
  hello-world-images
* master

We can see the new branch with the name "hello-world-images", but the * beside master specifies that we are currently on that branch.

Switching Between Branches

checkout is the command used to check out a branch.

Moving us from the current branch, to the one specified at the end of the command:

Example
git checkout hello-world-images
Switched to branch 'hello-world-images'

Now you can work in your new branch without affecting the main branch.

Working in a Branch

Now we have moved our current workspace from the master branch, to the new branch

Open your favourite editor and make some changes.

For this example, we added an image (img_hello_world.jpg) to the working folder and a line of code in the index.html file:

Example

  <!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Hello World!</title><link 
  rel="stylesheet" href="bluestyle.css"></head><body><h1>Hello 
  world!</h1><div><img src="img_hello_world.jpg" alt="Hello World from 
  Space"style="width:100%;max-width:960px"></div><p>This is the first 
  file in my new Git Repo.</p><p>A new line in our file!</p></body>
  </html>

We have made changes to a file and added a new file in the working directory (same directory as the main branch).

Now check the status of the current branch:

Example
git status
On branch hello-world-images
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   index.html

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        img_hello_world.jpg

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

So let's go through what happens here:

There are changes to our index.html, but the file is not staged for commit
img_hello_world.jpg is not tracked

So we need to add both files to the Staging Environment for this branch:

Example
git add --all

Using --all instead of individual filenames will Stage all changed (new, modified, and deleted) files.

Check the status of the branch:

Example
git status
On branch hello-world-images
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
    new file: img_hello_world.jpg
    modified: index.html

We are happy with our changes. So we will commit them to the branch:

Example
git commit -m "Added image to Hello World"
[hello-world-images 0312c55] Added image to Hello World
2 files changed, 1 insertion(+)
create mode 100644 img_hello_world.jpg

Now we have a new branch, that is different from the master branch.

Note: Using the -b option on checkout will create a new branch, and move to it, if it does not exist

Switching Between Branches

Now let's see just how quick and easy it is to work with different branches, and how well it works.

We are currently on the branch hello-world-images. We added an image to this branch, so let's list the files in the current directory:

Example
ls
README.md  bluestyle.css  img_hello_world.jpg  index.html

We can see the new file img_hello_world.jpg, and if we open the html file, we can see the code has been altered. All is as it should be.

Now, let's see what happens when we change branch to master

Example
git checkout master
Switched to branch 'master'

The new image is not a part of this branch. List the files in the current directory again:

Example
ls
README.md  bluestyle.css  index.html

img_hello_world.jpg is no longer there! And if we open the html file, we can see the code reverted to what it was before the alteration.

See how easy it is to work with branches? And how this allows you to work on different things?

Emergency Branch

Now imagine that we are not yet done with hello-world-images, but we need to fix an error on master.

I don't want to mess with master directly, and I do not want to mess with hello-world-images, since it is not done yet.

So we create a new branch to deal with the emergency:

Example
git checkout -b emergency-fix
Switched to a new branch 'emergency-fix'

Now we have created a new branch from master, and changed to it. We can safely fix the error without disturbing the other branches.

Let's fix our imaginary error:

Example

  <!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Hello World!</title><link 
  rel="stylesheet" href="bluestyle.css"></head><body><h1>Hello 
  world!</h1><p>This is the first 
  file in my new Git Repo.</p><p>This line is here to show how 
  merging works.</p></body>
  </html>

We have made changes in this file, and we need to get those changes to the master branch.

Check the status:

Example
git status
On branch emergency-fix
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   index.html

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

stage the file, and commit:

Example
git add index.html
git commit -m "updated index.html with emergency fix"
[emergency-fix dfa79db] updated index.html with emergency fix
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

Now we have a fix ready for master, and we need to merge the two branches.

Deleting a Branch

When you're done with a branch, you can delete it:

Example
git branch -d hello-world-images

This deletes the branch named hello-world-images (if it's already merged).

Best Practices for Working with Branches

Use clear, descriptive branch names (like feature/login-page or bugfix/header-crash).
Keep each branch focused on a single purpose or feature.
Regularly merge changes from the main branch to keep your branch up-to-date.
Delete branches that are no longer needed to keep your repository clean.

Practical Examples

Rename a branch: git branch -m old-name new-name
List all branches: git branch
Switch branches: git checkout branch-name or git switch branch-name
Delete a branch (not merged): git branch -D branch-name
See which branch you're on: git status

Troubleshooting

If you don't see your changes on the main branch, remember: changes in one branch stay there until you merge them.

When deleting a branch, make sure it's merged first. If you try to delete an unmerged branch, Git will prevent you from doing so.

To force delete an unmerged branch, use git branch -D branch-name.

Practical Terminal Workflow

Execute the following terminal commands to work with this concept in your workspace:

# List all local branches
git branch

# Create a new feature branch
git branch feature/login-page

# Switch to the feature branch
git switch feature/login-page

Best Practices & Pro-Tips

Atomic Commits: Keep each commit small, focused, and dedicated to a single logical feature or bug fix.
Imperative Commit Messages: Write commit titles in imperative mood (e.g., Fix CORS bug rather than Fixed CORS bug).
Review Diff Before Staging: Run git diff to review unstaged modifications before adding files to the index.

Common Gotchas & Troubleshooting

Detached HEAD State: Triggered when checking out a specific commit hash directly rather than a branch. Create a new branch with git switch -c <branch-name> to preserve edits.
Accidentally Staged Binary Files: Run git restore --staged <filename> to remove the file from the index without altering your local workspace copy.

Self-Check Challenge

Open your terminal in a test project directory, execute git status, and verify your current working tree state. Practice running git log --oneline to review commit history.

Save Your Progress

Unlock Your
Full Potential.

Quick Access With

Enterprise-Grade Security Protocol

Recommended Courses & Books

Stuck on this lesson?

Join our community of senior developers.

Ask in Forum

GitGit Tutorial

Lesson

Git Branch

10 min reading

Free Course

Git Branch

Branches in Git are lightweight, moveable pointers to specific commits, enabling isolated feature development without affecting the main codebase.

Git Branching Model

gitGraph
   commit id: "Initial Commit"
   commit id: "Add Core Files"
   branch feature/auth
   checkout feature/auth
   commit id: "Build Auth Form"
   commit id: "Add Token Storage"
   checkout main
   commit id: "Hotfix Security Patch"
   merge feature/auth

Core Concepts & Explanation

Why Use Branches?

Branches let you work on different parts of a project, like new features or bug fixes, without interfering with the main branch.

Common Reasons to Create a Branch

Developing a new feature
Fixing a bug
Experimenting with ideas

Let's say you have a large project, and you need to update the design on it.

How would that work without and with Git:

Without Git:

Make copies of all the relevant files to avoid impacting the live version
Start working with the design and find that code depend on code in other files, that also need to be changed!
Make copies of the dependant files as well. Making sure that every file dependency references the correct file name
EMERGENCY! There is an unrelated error somewhere else in the project that needs to be fixed ASAP!
Save all your files, making a note of the names of the copies you were working on
Work on the unrelated error and update the code to fix it
Go back to the design, and finish the work there
Copy the code or rename the files, so the updated design is on the live version
(2 weeks later, you realize that the unrelated error was not fixed in the new design version because you copied the files before the fix)

With Git:

With a new branch called new-design, edit the code directly without impacting the main branch
EMERGENCY! There is an unrelated error somewhere else in the project that needs to be fixed ASAP!
Create a new branch from the main project called small-error-fix
Fix the unrelated error and merge the small-error-fix branch with the main branch
You go back to the new-design branch, and finish the work there
Merge the new-design branch with main (getting alerted to the small error fix that you were missing)

Branches allow you to work on different parts of a project without impacting the main branch.

When the work is complete, a branch can be merged with the main project.

You can even switch between branches and work on different projects without them interfering with each other.

Branching in Git is very lightweight and fast!

Creating a New Branch

Let's say you want to add a new feature. You can create a new branch for it.

Let add some new features to our index.html page.

We are working in our local repository, and we do not want to disturb or possibly wreck the main project.

So we create a new branch:

Example
git branch hello-world-images

Now we created a new branch called "hello-world-images"

Listing All Branches

Let's confirm that we have created a new branch.

To see all branches in your repository, use:

Example
git branch
  hello-world-images
* master

We can see the new branch with the name "hello-world-images", but the * beside master specifies that we are currently on that branch.

Switching Between Branches

checkout is the command used to check out a branch.

Moving us from the current branch, to the one specified at the end of the command:

Example
git checkout hello-world-images
Switched to branch 'hello-world-images'

Now you can work in your new branch without affecting the main branch.

Working in a Branch

Now we have moved our current workspace from the master branch, to the new branch

Open your favourite editor and make some changes.

For this example, we added an image (img_hello_world.jpg) to the working folder and a line of code in the index.html file:

Example

  <!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Hello World!</title><link 
  rel="stylesheet" href="bluestyle.css"></head><body><h1>Hello 
  world!</h1><div><img src="img_hello_world.jpg" alt="Hello World from 
  Space"style="width:100%;max-width:960px"></div><p>This is the first 
  file in my new Git Repo.</p><p>A new line in our file!</p></body>
  </html>

We have made changes to a file and added a new file in the working directory (same directory as the main branch).

Now check the status of the current branch:

Example
git status
On branch hello-world-images
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   index.html

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        img_hello_world.jpg

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

So let's go through what happens here:

There are changes to our index.html, but the file is not staged for commit
img_hello_world.jpg is not tracked

So we need to add both files to the Staging Environment for this branch:

Example
git add --all

Using --all instead of individual filenames will Stage all changed (new, modified, and deleted) files.

Check the status of the branch:

Example
git status
On branch hello-world-images
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)
    new file: img_hello_world.jpg
    modified: index.html

We are happy with our changes. So we will commit them to the branch:

Example
git commit -m "Added image to Hello World"
[hello-world-images 0312c55] Added image to Hello World
2 files changed, 1 insertion(+)
create mode 100644 img_hello_world.jpg

Now we have a new branch, that is different from the master branch.

Note: Using the -b option on checkout will create a new branch, and move to it, if it does not exist

Switching Between Branches

Now let's see just how quick and easy it is to work with different branches, and how well it works.

We are currently on the branch hello-world-images. We added an image to this branch, so let's list the files in the current directory:

Example
ls
README.md  bluestyle.css  img_hello_world.jpg  index.html

We can see the new file img_hello_world.jpg, and if we open the html file, we can see the code has been altered. All is as it should be.

Now, let's see what happens when we change branch to master

Example
git checkout master
Switched to branch 'master'

The new image is not a part of this branch. List the files in the current directory again:

Example
ls
README.md  bluestyle.css  index.html

img_hello_world.jpg is no longer there! And if we open the html file, we can see the code reverted to what it was before the alteration.

See how easy it is to work with branches? And how this allows you to work on different things?

Emergency Branch

Now imagine that we are not yet done with hello-world-images, but we need to fix an error on master.

I don't want to mess with master directly, and I do not want to mess with hello-world-images, since it is not done yet.

So we create a new branch to deal with the emergency:

Example
git checkout -b emergency-fix
Switched to a new branch 'emergency-fix'

Now we have created a new branch from master, and changed to it. We can safely fix the error without disturbing the other branches.

Let's fix our imaginary error:

Example

  <!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Hello World!</title><link 
  rel="stylesheet" href="bluestyle.css"></head><body><h1>Hello 
  world!</h1><p>This is the first 
  file in my new Git Repo.</p><p>This line is here to show how 
  merging works.</p></body>
  </html>

We have made changes in this file, and we need to get those changes to the master branch.

Check the status:

Example
git status
On branch emergency-fix
Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   index.html

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

stage the file, and commit:

Example
git add index.html
git commit -m "updated index.html with emergency fix"
[emergency-fix dfa79db] updated index.html with emergency fix
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

Now we have a fix ready for master, and we need to merge the two branches.

Deleting a Branch

When you're done with a branch, you can delete it:

Example
git branch -d hello-world-images

This deletes the branch named hello-world-images (if it's already merged).

Best Practices for Working with Branches

Use clear, descriptive branch names (like feature/login-page or bugfix/header-crash).
Keep each branch focused on a single purpose or feature.
Regularly merge changes from the main branch to keep your branch up-to-date.
Delete branches that are no longer needed to keep your repository clean.

Practical Examples

Rename a branch: git branch -m old-name new-name
List all branches: git branch
Switch branches: git checkout branch-name or git switch branch-name
Delete a branch (not merged): git branch -D branch-name
See which branch you're on: git status

Troubleshooting

If you don't see your changes on the main branch, remember: changes in one branch stay there until you merge them.

When deleting a branch, make sure it's merged first. If you try to delete an unmerged branch, Git will prevent you from doing so.

To force delete an unmerged branch, use git branch -D branch-name.

Practical Terminal Workflow

Execute the following terminal commands to work with this concept in your workspace:

# List all local branches
git branch

# Create a new feature branch
git branch feature/login-page

# Switch to the feature branch
git switch feature/login-page

Best Practices & Pro-Tips

Atomic Commits: Keep each commit small, focused, and dedicated to a single logical feature or bug fix.
Imperative Commit Messages: Write commit titles in imperative mood (e.g., Fix CORS bug rather than Fixed CORS bug).
Review Diff Before Staging: Run git diff to review unstaged modifications before adding files to the index.

Common Gotchas & Troubleshooting

Detached HEAD State: Triggered when checking out a specific commit hash directly rather than a branch. Create a new branch with git switch -c <branch-name> to preserve edits.
Accidentally Staged Binary Files: Run git restore --staged <filename> to remove the file from the index without altering your local workspace copy.

Self-Check Challenge

Open your terminal in a test project directory, execute git status, and verify your current working tree state. Practice running git log --oneline to review commit history.

Save Your Progress

Unlock Your
Full Potential.

Quick Access With

Enterprise-Grade Security Protocol

Recommended Courses & Books

Stuck on this lesson?

Join our community of senior developers.

Ask in Forum

Git Branch

Git Branch

Git Branching Model

Core Concepts & Explanation

Why Use Branches?

Common Reasons to Create a Branch

Without Git:

With Git:

Creating a New Branch

Listing All Branches

Switching Between Branches

Working in a Branch

Switching Between Branches

Emergency Branch

Deleting a Branch

Best Practices for Working with Branches

Practical Examples

Troubleshooting

Practical Terminal Workflow

Best Practices & Pro-Tips

Common Gotchas & Troubleshooting

Self-Check Challenge

Unlock Your Full Potential.

Recommended Courses & Books

Stuck on this lesson?

Git Branch

Git Branch

Git Branching Model

Core Concepts & Explanation

Why Use Branches?

Common Reasons to Create a Branch

Without Git:

With Git:

Creating a New Branch

Listing All Branches

Switching Between Branches

Working in a Branch

Switching Between Branches

Emergency Branch

Deleting a Branch

Best Practices for Working with Branches

Practical Examples

Troubleshooting

Practical Terminal Workflow

Best Practices & Pro-Tips

Common Gotchas & Troubleshooting

Self-Check Challenge

Unlock Your Full Potential.

Recommended Courses & Books

Stuck on this lesson?

Unlock Your
Full Potential.

Unlock Your
Full Potential.