Pebellslearn by building
0%
RoadmapsMatrixCoursesSandboxSign in
Branching Basics  ›  Lesson

Creating and Switching Branches

Creating Branch 12 minA branch is a movable pointer to a commit, created with git branch or git switch -c, and switching updates your working files to that branch's latest commit.

Creating and Switching Branches

Asha wants to try a vegan pancake recipe, but the current one works and her brother cooks from it every Sunday. She needs a place to experiment where mistakes cannot touch the good version. In Git that place is a branch, and making one takes less than a second.

The rule

A branch is a movable label on a commit; new commits carry the current label forward.

A branch is not a copy of your files. It is a tiny named pointer to one commit. main is simply the branch you started on. When you commit, the branch you are on moves forward to the new commit, and the others stay where they were.

git branch                     # list branches; * marks the current one
git branch vegan-pancakes      # create a branch here, but stay put
git switch vegan-pancakes      # move onto it
git switch -c vegan-pancakes   # create and move in one step

Older tutorials use git checkout for the same jobs: git checkout vegan-pancakes switches and git checkout -b vegan-pancakes creates and switches. Both still work. git switch was added later because checkout also does unrelated things, such as restoring files, and the single-purpose command is harder to misuse.

What happens when you switch:

  • Git updates the files in your working directory to match the tip commit of that branch.
  • HEAD, Git's "you are here" marker, now points at the new branch.
  • Uncommitted changes come with you if they do not clash with the target branch. If they would be overwritten, Git refuses to switch until you commit them or set them aside.

Branch names follow simple rules: no spaces, and short, descriptive, hyphenated names work best, such as vegan-pancakes or fix-chai-typo.

The shortcut

Before starting any new piece of work, ask "If this goes wrong, should main notice?" If the answer is no, which is almost always, run git switch -c <name> first and only then start editing.

The vegan experimentStep 1 of 4

  1. Where am I?

    git branch shows * main. The label main points at commit 9b2d7e4.

The trap is editing on main and only afterwards remembering to branch. If you have not committed yet, no harm is done: git switch -c <name> carries your uncommitted edits onto the new branch, and you commit them there. Once you have committed on main, fixing it takes more work.

Drills

Answer fast — trust the rule.

quick drill

What is a Git branch?

quick drill

Which single command creates fix-chai-typo and switches to it?

quick drill

Asha is on vegan-pancakes and makes a commit. What happens to main?

quick drill

In the output of git branch, what does * mean?

quick drill

Which older command does the same as git switch -c vegan-pancakes?

Remember

  • A branch is a movable label on a commit; new commits carry the current label forward.
  • Branch before you start: git switch -c <name>.
  • git checkout and git checkout -b are the older forms of git switch and git switch -c.

Practice — level up

0/1 solved

Write your answer, then compare it with a rubric and a model answer.

ExplainWhy not just edit main?

Asha's brother asks why she bothers making a branch to try a new pancake recipe instead of editing main directly. Explain what a branch is, the commands she uses, and what happens to main while she experiments.