Lesson 05

Branches

A branch is a movable name for a line of commits. Creating one names a path; it does not switch you to it.

Ready to run git branch feature/login.

Keep These Ideas

Branch Pointer: A branch names one commit and moves forward when you commit on it.
Create, Don't Switch: git branch creates the name. HEAD remains on your current branch.
No new commit: Creating a branch adds a name at an existing checkpoint; history does not grow yet.

The Real Command

Terminal

$git branch feature/login

git branch feature/login creates a branch pointer at your current commit without switching to it.

git branch

The * marks your current branch. It is output from Git, not a character you type.

Example Output

  feature/login
* main

git branch --list "feature/*"

* is a wildcard here. The quotes keep the pattern together while Git lists matching branch names.

Example Output

  feature/login

git branch -d feature/login

-d deletes a safely merged branch. Git refuses when the branch contains work that has not been merged.

Knowledge Check

Create and inspect branch names without confusing creation with switching.

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