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Git Branching

The Main Branch

In Git, the main project is completed on the main branch. Making your first commit in a new git repository will automatically create a main branch. Create new branches from the main branch to develop new features for a project. These branches can be merged into main at a later time to incorporate the new features. You can use git branch to check what branch you’re on.

$ git init
Initialized empty Git repository in /home/ccuser/new-project/.git/
$ echo "Hello World!" >> hello.txt
$ git add hello.txt 
$ git commit -m 'initial commit'
[master (root-commit) bb0e565] initial commit
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)
 create mode 100644 hello.txt
$ git branch
* master

Creating a New Branch

In Git, the git branch branch-name command is used to create a new branch called branch-name. Branches should be named something that describes the purpose of the branch.

Note that branch names can’t contain whitespace: new-feature and new_feature are valid branch names, but new feature is not.

Run git branch new-feature to make a new branch called new-feature

Viewing the Current Branch

In Git, the git branch command will display all of the branches. The current branch will display * before its name.

git branch displays the two branches "fencing" and "master". "master" is preceded by an asterisk.

Merge Conflicts

In Git, a merge conflict occurs when the same file is changed on the current branch and the branch that is being merged. An error will appear displaying: CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in [filename].

Git will automatically edit the file with the conflict to show where the conflict is. The current branch’s text will be between <<<<<<< HEAD and =======. The text from the branch that is being merged into the current branch will be between ======= and >>>>>>> branch-name

To resolve a merge conflict, edit the file with the conflict, decide which parts of each branch’s edits should be kept, then add and commit the file.

PETE PAN
<<<<<<< HEAD
Address: No 31 Kensington Hill Park, London, England
=======
Address: 113 Gloucester Rd Patchway, Bristol, England
>>>>>>> resume-edits
-------------------

Deleting a Branch

In Git, the git branch -d branch_name command is used to delete the branch_name branch. It’s good practice to delete a branch after it has been merged into the master branch.

git branch -d new-feature will delete the branch with the name "new-feature"

Merging Branches

In Git, the git merge branch-name command will add the changes from branch-name into the current branch. Use this command when you have finished building a feature in a separate branch and want to bring those changes into your current branch.

git merge resume-edits brings the changes from resume.txt into the master branch
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