Git Branch

A Git branch is a named pointer to a commit that moves forward as you add new commits. Creating one gives you a separate line of development, so you can work on a feature or fix without touching the main branch.

Why it matters

Branches let several people work in parallel and keep unfinished work out of production. The usual flow is to branch from main, commit changes, open a pull request and merge the branch back once it is reviewed and tests pass. Git branches are cheap, since they are just a small file holding a commit ID.

Example

$ git switch -c add-search
$ git branch
* add-search
  main

The asterisk marks your current branch. Commits made now belong to add-search only; main stays unchanged until you merge.

Common mistakes

• Letting a long-lived branch drift far from main, which leads to painful merge conflicts.
• Committing work to main by accident because you forgot which branch was checked out.
• Never deleting merged branches, which clutters the repository.

Related

• Git
• Git commit
• Merge conflict
• Pull request

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