3a Understanding Branches #### What are branches? Imagine you have a big project, like building a house. Instead of having everyone work on the same foundation, branches let you create separate workspaces where different people or teams can build different parts simultaneously.
Think of branches as parallel universes of your code where each one can evolve independently. You can make changes, test ideas, and experiment without worrying about breaking the main project.
#### Why do we use branches? 1. Feature Development Without Risk When you want to add a new feature like user login, you don't want to mess up the existing working system. So you create a separate branch where you can build the login functionality completely isolated from the rest of the codebase.
2. Bug Fixes in Isolation If there's a critical bug in your software, you don't want to rush a fix that might introduce more problems. You create a special branch just for fixing that specific bug, so you can test it thoroughly before putting it into production.
3. Experimentation and Testing Sometimes developers want to try out new approaches or technologies. They create experimental branches where they can explore without affecting the main stable code that other people depend on.
#### The Main Branch (also called Master) The main branch is like the official version of your project - the one that's considered "ready" and working properly. It represents what should be in production, what users are actually using, and what's being deployed to customers.
This branch is typically very stable and only gets updated when features have been thoroughly tested and approved.
#### Understanding HEAD HEAD is like a marker that always points to your current location in the project history. It tells Git: "Hey, I'm currently working on this specific point in time."
Think of HEAD as a spotlight that always shines on where you are right now:
When you're working on the main branch, HEAD points to the latest commit on main When you switch to a feature branch, HEAD moves to that branch's latest commit HEAD is always pointing to exactly one commit - it never points to multiple places #### How Branches Work Together When you create a branch from the main codebase, you're essentially making a copy of everything that existed at that moment. From there, you can make unlimited changes without affecting the original.
Eventually, when your work is ready, you can merge those changes back into the main branch - kind of like bringing your experimental work back to the official project.
#### Git Branching Questions 1. What happens to your local branches when you clone a remote repository? 2. How does Git handle merging when two branches have made changes to the same file in different ways? 3. Why would you want to use git rebase instead of git merge in certain situations? 4. What is the difference between a branch and a tag in Git? 5. How does Git's branching system make collaboration easier for teams working on the same project? 6. What happens to unmerged branches when you delete a remote branch? 7. Why might you choose to use feature branches instead of working directly on the main branch? 8. How does Git determine which commits belong to which branch?