Git Branch Switching
Introduction
When working with Git, one of its most powerful features is the ability to create and manage multiple branches. Branches allow you to work on different features, bug fixes, or experiments simultaneously without affecting your main codebase. However, creating branches is only half the story - you also need to know how to switch between them efficiently.
In this guide, we'll learn how to navigate between branches in Git, understand the implications of switching, and explore some advanced techniques for managing your workflow.
Understanding Git Branches
Before diving into branch switching, let's quickly review what branches are:
A branch in Git is simply a lightweight movable pointer to a commit. The default branch is called main
(or master
in older repositories). When you create a new branch, you're creating a new pointer to the current commit.
In the diagram above, we have:
- The
main
branch with 3 commits - A
feature
branch that diverges after the second commit - Two commits on the
feature
branch
Basic Branch Switching
Viewing Your Branches
Before switching branches, you might want to see what branches exist in your repository:
git branch
Output:
feature
* main
bugfix
The branch with an asterisk (*
) is your current branch.
Switching Branches with git checkout
The traditional command for switching branches is git checkout
:
git checkout feature
Output:
Switched to branch 'feature'
This command changes your working directory to reflect the state of the feature
branch.
Switching Branches with git switch
Git version 2.23 introduced a new command specifically for branch switching called git switch
. This offers a clearer syntax:
git switch feature
Output:
Switched to branch 'feature'
The switch
command is now the preferred way to change branches as it's more intuitive and separates the concerns of branch switching from other checkout
functionality.