Working with Branches

Branches let you work on features, fixes, or experiments in isolation without affecting the main codebase. This is fundamental to collaborative development.

Why Branch?

Without branches:

• Every commit goes directly to main
• Work-in-progress breaks the codebase
• Multiple developers constantly conflict
• No way to review before merging

With branches:

• Features develop in isolation
• Main stays stable and deployable
• Changes are reviewed via pull requests
• Easy to discard failed experiments

Creating Branches

Create and Switch

bash
1$ git checkout -b feature/login-form
2Switched to a new branch 'feature/login-form'

This creates a new branch and switches to it in one command.

Modern Alternative

bash
1$ git switch -c feature/login-form
2Switched to a new branch 'feature/login-form'

The switch command is clearer but checkout -b is more widely known.

Create Without Switching

bash
1$ git branch feature/login-form

This creates the branch but keeps you on the current branch.

Branch Naming Conventions

Use prefixes to categorize branches:

Good branch names are:

• Lowercase with hyphens
• Descriptive but concise
• Include ticket numbers if applicable: feature/JIRA-123-user-auth

Viewing Branches

List Local Branches

bash
1$ git branch
2  main
3* feature/login-form

The * indicates your current branch.

List All Branches (Including Remote)

bash
1$ git branch -a
2  main
3* feature/login-form
4  remotes/origin/main
5  remotes/origin/feature/api

Show Branch with Last Commit

bash
1$ git branch -v
2  main              1a2b3c4 Initial commit
3* feature/login-form 5d6e7f8 Add login form

Switching Branches

Using checkout

bash
1$ git checkout main
2Switched to branch 'main'

Using switch (Modern)

bash
1$ git switch main
2Switched to branch 'main'

Caution: Uncommitted Changes

If you have uncommitted changes, Git may prevent switching:

bash
1$ git switch main
2error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by checkout:
3        login.js
4Please commit your changes or stash them before you switch branches.

Options:

1. Commit your changes
2. Stash them: git stash
3. Discard them: git checkout -- . (dangerous!)

Deleting Branches

Delete Merged Branch

bash
1$ git branch -d feature/login-form
2Deleted branch feature/login-form (was 5d6e7f8).

The -d flag only works if the branch has been merged.

Force Delete Unmerged Branch

bash
1$ git branch -D feature/experimental
2Deleted branch feature/experimental (was 9a8b7c6).

Use -D (uppercase) to delete regardless of merge status. Be careful—unmerged work will be lost.

Delete Remote Branch

bash
1$ git push origin --delete feature/login-form
2To github.com:user/repo.git
3 - [deleted]         feature/login-form

Branch Workflow

A typical feature workflow:

bash
1# 1. Start from updated main
2$ git switch main
3$ git pull
4
5# 2. Create feature branch
6$ git switch -c feature/new-widget
7
8# 3. Work on feature (multiple commits)
9$ git add .
10$ git commit -m "feat: add widget component"
11$ git add .
12$ git commit -m "feat: style widget"
13
14# 4. Push to remote
15$ git push -u origin feature/new-widget
16
17# 5. Open pull request (covered next lesson)
18
19# 6. After merge, clean up
20$ git switch main
21$ git pull
22$ git branch -d feature/new-widget

Visualizing Branches

See how branches diverge and merge:

bash
1$ git log --oneline --graph --all
2* 8a9b0c1 (HEAD -> feature/login-form) Add validation
3* 7e8f9a0 Add login form
4| * 6d7e8f9 (origin/main, main) Update README
5|/
6* 5c6d7e8 Initial commit

Key Takeaway

Branches isolate work. Create a branch for every feature or fix. Keep main stable. Use meaningful branch names. Delete branches after merging to keep the repository tidy.