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Git Branches

Create a new branch and switch to it

Description: Create a branch named feature-login, move to it, add a file login.html and commit it. Then show all branches.

Hint:

  • git switch -c creates a branch and moves to it.

Solution

Terminal output

$ git switch -c feature-login
Switched to a new branch 'feature-login'
$ echo "login" > login.html
$ git add login.html
$ git commit -m "Add login page"
[feature-login 001dfd4] Add login page
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
create mode 100644 login.html
$ git branch
* feature-login
main

How it works

  • The new branch starts from the commit where you were, so it has all the old files.
  • The new commit belongs only to feature-login, and main is not changed.

Read Git Branch and Git Checkout and Switch.

Merge a feature branch into main

Description: You have finished the work on feature-search. Merge it into main and show the history.

Hint:

  • Move to the target branch (main) first, then run git merge.

Solution

Terminal output

$ git switch main
Switched to branch 'main'
$ git merge feature-search
Updating a17f7f4..d37f093
Fast-forward
search.html | 1 +
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
create mode 100644 search.html
$ git log –oneline
d37f093 (HEAD -> main, feature-search) Add search page
a17f7f4 Add home

How it works

  • main had no new commits, so Git made a fast-forward merge and moved the pointer.
  • After the merge, the branch feature-search can be deleted.

Read Git Merge.

Resolve a merge conflict

Description: Both main and feature changed the first line of title.txt. Merge feature into main and solve the conflict by keeping the text “Learn Git Fast”.

Hint:

  • Edit the file to the final text, remove the markers, then git add and git commit.

Solution

Terminal output

$ git merge feature
Auto-merging title.txt
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in title.txt
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
$ cat title.txt
<<<<<<< HEAD
Learn Git Easily
=======
Learn Git Quickly
>>>>>>> feature
$ echo "Learn Git Fast" > title.txt
$ git add title.txt
$ git commit -m "Merge feature and solve conflict"
[main b4f0e8e] Merge feature and solve conflict
$ git status
On branch main
nothing to commit, working tree clean

How it works

  • Git stops the merge and writes the markers in the file.
  • We replaced the file content with the final text, so no markers are left.
  • git add tells Git the conflict is solved, and the commit finishes the merge.

Read Git Merge Conflict.

Delete a merged branch

Description: The branch feature-menu is merged into main. Show the merged branches and delete it.

Hint:

  • git branch --merged lists merged branches. -d is the safe delete.

Solution

Terminal output

$ git branch –merged
feature-menu
* main
$ git branch -d feature-menu
Deleted branch feature-menu (was cda1bfa).
$ git branch
* main

How it works

  • The safe delete -d works only when the branch is merged. Otherwise Git refuses.
  • The commit is not lost, because it is already part of main.

Read Git Branch.

Rename a local branch

Description: Rename the branch fix-hedaer (a spelling mistake) to fix-header.

Hint:

  • Use git branch -m old new.

Solution

Terminal output

$ git branch -m fix-hedaer fix-header
$ git branch
fix-header
* main

How it works

  • -m means move (rename). Only the name changes, not the commits.
  • If the branch was pushed, push the new name and delete the old name on the remote.

Read Git Branch.