Core Git 3/8

Branches

A branch is a movable label attached to a commit. Creating a branch adds another label to the history, and each new commit moves that branch forward. Branches let teams isolate unfinished work and create separate lines of development without copying the repository.

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A Branch Is A Pointer (Label) To One Commit

Named Reference

Technically, a branch is just a named reference that stores which commit it currently points to.

git branch feature-login

Branch Labels Sit On Top Of Commit History

History Graph

The branch label does not replace the history graph. It simply names one commit inside that graph. The commits themselves do not know branches exist, because branches do not contain commits; they only point to them.

git log --oneline --graph --decorate

git commit -m "feat: continue main work"

Creating A Branch Adds A Label, Not A Commit

Branch Label

Creating a branch does not create a new commit. Git simply adds another label, so main and feature/ui can both point to the exact same commit until one of them moves forward. Multiple branches can point to the same commit at the same time.

git branch feature/ui

git log --oneline --decorate

A New Branch Starts A New Line Of Work

Parallel Work

After a branch is created, both branches still share the same history up to the split point. From there, each branch can receive new commits independently without affecting the other.

git switch -c feature/ui

git commit -m "feat: update UI"

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