git branch - Shell-Bash

Introduction

As a programmer, you're likely familiar with the concept of version control. Git is one of the most popular version control systems, allowing you to keep track of changes made to your codebase over time. One of the key features of Git is its ability to create branches, allowing you to work on different versions of your project simultaneously.

The git branch command is a powerful tool for managing branches in Git. In this article, we'll explore how to use git branch in Shell-Bash.

Installing Git

Before we can use the git branch command, we need to have Git installed on our machine. To install Git on a Unix-based operating system, such as Linux or macOS, open a terminal window and enter the following command:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git

If you're using a Windows machine, you can download and install Git from the official website: https://git-scm.com/downloads.

Creating a Branch

To create a new branch using git branch, we type the command followed by a name for our new branch. For example, to create a new branch called "feature-branch", we would enter the following command:

git branch feature-branch

This will create a new branch in our Git repository, but we won't actually be on that branch yet. To switch to the new branch, we can use the git checkout command:

git checkout feature-branch

Alternatively, we can create and switch to the new branch in a single command using the git checkout -b shortcut:

git checkout -b feature-branch

Viewing Branches

To view a list of all the branches in our Git repository, we can use the git branch command without any arguments:

git branch

This will provide a list of all the branches in our Git repository, with an asterisk next to the branch we're currently on.

Deleting a Branch

To delete a branch in Git, we use the git branch -d command, followed by the name of the branch we want to delete. For example, to delete the "feature-branch" branch, we would enter the following command:

git branch -d feature-branch

Conclusion

The git branch command is a powerful tool for managing branches in Git. With this command, we can create, view, and delete branches in our Git repository, allowing us to work on different versions of our project simultaneously.