Some may be implementing brand new features, which could introduce bugs in the beginning. ![]() All of them simultaneously editing the same source code files. Let’s dive a little deeper into the details! Why are branches so useful?īranching’s value becomes clear if you think about your workflow without them: imagine that a team of 10 or 20 developers all work in the same "folder," so to speak. For example, they don’t waste disk space (which a simple file system copy would do) and they are much more capable when it comes to collaborating with other developers in the same project. Of course, they are much more clever than our simple “copy folder” strategy. But there’s an easy way to mitigate these risks: you could simply duplicate the whole project folder! In this copy, you could then make any changes you like, without worrying about breaking something.īranches in Git have the exact same effect and purpose: they provide developers with separate workspaces for their code. In such a situation you would have to be very careful when making changes-because you couldn’t easily undo them and you would risk breaking the current, working version. Just for a moment, let’s pretend that version control and especially its concept of “branches” didn’t exist. when developing a new feature or fixing a problem) will most likely involve a couple of those files. Put simply, a code base is a collection of files. We'll be looking at the concept of branches in Git from a high-level perspective-with the ultimate goal of better understanding what they are and how they should be used so that you and your team can get the most benefit out of them. What do branches look like under the hood in Git?.How are they used, especially in teams?.In this post, I'd like to explore and explain the what, why, and how of branches: It has made working with branches so quick and easy that many developers have adopted the concept for their daily work. But why exactly is it so popular? The answer, at least in my opinion, is pretty clear: branches! They allow you to keep different versions of your code cleanly separated-ideal when collaborating in a team with other people, but also for yourself when you begin working on a new feature.Īlthough other version control systems also offer some form of branching, Git's concept and implementation are just stunning. If you specify "HEAD" as the revision, you will restore the last committed version of the file, effectively undoing any local changes that you current have in that file: $ git checkout HEAD index.Git has won the race for the most popular version control system. If, in one go, you also want to create a new local branch, you can use the "-b" parameter: $ git checkout -b new-branchīy using the "-track" parameter, you can use a remote branch as the basis for a new local branch this will also set up a "tracking relationship" between the two: $ git checkout -b new-branch -track origin/developĪnother use case for "checkout" is when you want to restore an old revision of a file: $ git checkout 8a7b201 index.html This will make the given branch the new HEAD branch. In its simplest (and most common) form, only the name of an existing local branch is specified: $ git checkout other-branch If you want to restore a specific earlier revision you can provide that revision's SHA-1 hash. By providing HEAD as the revision, you can restore the last committed version of a file - effectively undoing any local changes that happened since then. Restores a historic revision of a given file. ![]() when unpushed commits in the local branch or unpulled commits in the remote exist). This allows you to more easily see when the two aren't in sync (i.e. This way, the new local branch has a tracking relationship with its remote counterpart. This can be used as a shortcut instead of the following two commands:Ĭreates a new local branch - and sets up an "upstream" configuration. b Ĭreates a new local branch and directly switches to it. By specifying the name of a local branch, you will switch to this branch and make it the current "HEAD" branch. The name of a local branch that you want to switch to. ![]() Thereby, you can reset single files to earlier revisions - while keeping the rest of the project untouched. ![]() The most common use case for "checkout" is when you want to switch to a different branch, making it the new HEAD branch.Īnother use case for "checkout" is when you want to restore a historic version of a specific file. The "checkout" command can switch the currently active branch - but it can also be used to restore files.
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