GIT105 - Working with Branches

Branching is one of Git's most powerful features.
Branches allow developers to isolate work, experiment safely, and collaborate without interrupting the main codebase.

What Is a Branch?

A branch is a lightweight pointer to a specific commit.
It enables safe experimentation and parallel development.

Common branch examples:

• main
• develop
• feature/homepage
• bugfix/login

Creating a New Branch

Create a branch named feature/homepage:

git branch feature/homepage

Create AND switch to it immediately:

git checkout -b feature/homepage

Equivalent commands:

git branch feature/homepage
git checkout feature/homepage

Listing Branches

Show all local branches:

git branch

Show local and remote branches:

git branch -a

Example output:

* main
  feature/homepage

Switching Between Branches

Switch to another branch:

git checkout feature/homepage

Switch back to main:

git checkout main

Modern Git commands:

git switch feature/homepage
git switch main

Merging Branches

First switch to the branch you want to merge INTO:

git checkout main

Then merge your feature branch:

git merge feature/homepage

Git will attempt an automatic merge (fast-forward or merge commit).

Handling Merge Conflicts

If two branches edit the same lines of code, Git will produce a conflict.

A conflict looks like this:

<<<<<<< HEAD
your current changes
======
incoming changes from merged branch
>>>>>>> feature/homepage

Resolve conflicts by:

1. Editing the file
2. Choosing the correct content
3. Removing conflict markers
4. Staging the file:

git add filename

5. Completing the merge:

git commit