Branching & Switching: Parallel Feature Development

git branch, git switch, git checkout, and HEAD pointers

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Branches allow software engineers to diverge from the main production codebase to develop features, experiment, or fix bugs in complete isolation.

Understanding Branches and the HEAD Pointer

In Git, a branch is simply a lightweight, movable pointer to a specific commit hash (40 characters).

HEAD is a special reference pointing to the current branch/commit you are currently working on.

git switch -c feature/auth: Modern Git command to create and switch to a new branch in one step.

git branch -d branch-name: Safely deletes a merged branch.

Branching Workflow Commands

Try It Yourself »

# List all local branches (* denotes active branch)
git branch

# Create and switch to new feature branch
git switch -c feature/dark-mode

# Make changes and commit on feature branch
git add theme.css
git commit -m "style: implement dark theme palette"

# Switch back to main branch
git switch main

git switch -c replaces the legacy git checkout -b command.

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Test Yourself With Exercise

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What is a Git branch under the hood?

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