Branching

Branches are just pointers to commits, this means that Git doesn't create (and shouldn't be created manually) a whole new set of files or folders.

Create a branch

The following steps are applied when it's requested to work on a separate branch.

Create a new branch in the local repository:
```
git branch <name-branch>
```
Switch to the new branch with:
```
git checkout <name-branch>
```

Info: from now on, new commits will affect only the new branch.

Push a branch

A new local branch, with its commits, can be push on a remote repository with the command:

git push <remote> <name-branch>

Info: in the previous command, <remote> is origin (if the original repository has been cloned without renaming it).

Get current branch name

To know in which branch one is working on:

git branch

Rename a branch

Two scenarios are distinguished.

If the branch already exists in the remote repository:

rename the branch on the <git-server>;

update the local repository:

git branch -m <old-branch-name> <new-branch-name>
git fetch origin
git branch -u origin/<new-branch-name> <new-branch-name>
git remote set-head origin -a

Else if the branch only exists in the local repository:

git branch -m <old-branch-name> <new-branch-name>

Merging branches

The next steps are intended when the work on a secondary branch is ready to be imported in the mainly one.

To merge edits from <name-branch> into master branch, switch to this one:
```
git checkout master
```
Merge the work:
```
git merge <name-branch>
```
Push, to the remote repository, the merged commit:
```
git push origin master
```

If merge conflict happens it must be manually solved.

Open the file that has a merge conflict

Here changes are separated by:

<<<<<<< HEAD
changes made in master
=======
changes made in <branch-name>
>>>>>>> <branch-name>

Decide what changes to keep;
Push the changes, to the remote repository, following the steps described in Push to remote repository (remember you are in master now).

To delete the branch:

git branch -d <name-branch>

Links

git branch -help

TorMec

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