Git branches#

$ git branch [-a] [-l "GLOB_PATTERN"]

shows all local branches in a repository.

-a

also shows all removed branches.

-l

restricts the branches to those that correspond to a specific pattern.

$ git branch --sort=-committerdate

sorts the branches according to the commit date.

You can also use git config --global branch.sort -committerdate to make this setting your default setting.

$ git branch [BRANCH_NAME]

creates a new branch based on the current HEAD.

$ git switch [-c] [BRANCH_NAME]

switches between branches.

-c

creates a new branch.

Note

In Git < 2.23, git switch is not yet available. In this case you still need to use git checkout:

$ git checkout [-b] [BRANCH_NAME]

changes the working directory to the specified branch.

-b

creates the specified branch if it does not already exist.

$ git merge [FROM_BRANCH_NAME]

connects the given branch with the current branch you are currently in, for example:

$ git checkout main
$ git merge hotfix
Updating f42c576..3a0874c
Fast forward
 setup.py |    1 -
 1 files changed, 0 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
Fast forward

means that the new commit immediately followed the original commit and so the branch pointer only had to be continued.

In other cases the output can look like this:

$ git checkout main
$ git merge '#42'
Merge made by recursive.
 setup.py |    1 +
 1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
recursive

is a merge strategy that is used when the merge is only to be done to HEAD.

Merge conflicts#

Occasionally, however, Git runs into issues with merging, such as:

$ git merge '#17'
Auto-merging setup.py
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in setup.py
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.

See also

Delete branches#

$ git branch -d [BRANCH_NAME]

deletes the selected branch if it has already been transferred to another.

-D instead of -d forcing the deletion.

See also

Remote branches#

So far, these examples have all shown local branches. However, the git branch command also works with remote branches. To work with remote branches, a remote repository must first be configured and added to the local repository configuration:

$ git remote add origin https://ce.cusy.io/veit/NEWREPO.git

Now the branch can also be added to the remote repository:

$ git push origin [BRANCH_NAME]

With git branch -d you delete the branches locally only. To delete them on the remote server as well, you can type the following:

$ git push origin --delete [BRANCH_NAME]

To remove remote branches locally, you can run git fetch with the --prune or -p option. You can also make this the default behaviour by enabling fetch.prune:

$ git config --global fetch.prune true

Rename branches#

You can rename branches, for example with

$ git branch --move master main

This changes your local master branch to main. In order for others to see the new branch, you must push it to the remote server. This will make the main branch available on the remote server:

$ git push origin main

The current state of your repository may now look like this:

$ git branch -a
* main
  remotes/origin/HEAD -> origin/master
  remotes/origin/main
  remotes/origin/master

  • Your local master branch has disappeared because it has been replaced by the main branch.

  • The main branch is also present on the remote computer.

  • However, the master branch is also still present on the remote server. So presumably others will continue to use the the master branch for their work until you make the following changes:

    • For all projects that depend on this project, the code and/or configuration must be updated.

    • The test-runner configuration files may need to be updated.

    • Build and release scripts need to be adjusted.

    • The settings on your repository server, such as the default branch of the repository, merge rules and others, need to be adjusted.

    • References to the old branch in the documentation need to be updated.

    • Any pull or merge requests that target the master branch should be closed.

After you have done all these tasks and are sure that the main branch works the same as the master branch, you can delete the master branch:

$ git push origin --delete master

Team members can delete their locally still existing references to the master branch with

$ git fetch origin --prune