RubyGems - wayfarer - Versions diffs - 0.4.0 → 0.4.4 - Mend

wayfarer 0.4.0 → 0.4.4

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+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+  <!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->
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+  <title>Git - Branches in a Nutshell</title>
+  <link href='../../../favicon.ico' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/x-icon'>
+  <link rel="stylesheet" media="screen" href="../../../assets/application-cafcf280f67db0e6d8168ba98a38da878769a9d5f37793b68ffb963a02d185e0.css" />
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+  <script src="/javascripts/selectivizr-min.js"></script>
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+<body id="documentation">
+  <div class="inner">
+    <header>
+  <a href="https://git-scm.com/"><img src="../../../images/logo@2x.png" width="110" height="46" alt="Git" /></a>
+  <span id="tagline"></span>
+  <script type="text/javascript">
+    var taglines = ["fast-version-control","everything-is-local","distributed-even-if-your-workflow-isnt","local-branching-on-the-cheap","distributed-is-the-new-centralized"];
+    var tagline = taglines[Math.floor(Math.random() * taglines.length)];
+    document.getElementById('tagline').innerHTML = '--' + tagline;
+  </script>
+  <form id="search" action="https://git-scm.com/search/results">
+    <input id="search-text" name="search" placeholder="Search entire site..." autocomplete="off" type="text" />
+  </form>
+  <div id="search-results"></div>
+</header>
+  </div> <!-- .inner -->
+    <div class="inner">
+      <div id="content-wrapper">
+        <button class="sidebar-btn"></button>
+<aside class="sidebar" id="sidebar">
+  <nav>
+    <ul>
+      <li>
+        <a href="https://git-scm.com/about">About</a>
+        <ul class="">
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about">Branching and Merging</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about/small-and-fast">Small and Fast</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about/distributed">Distributed</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about/info-assurance">Data Assurance</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about/staging-area">Staging Area</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about/free-and-open-source">Free and Open Source</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/about/trademark">Trademark</a>
+          </li>
+        </ul>
+      </li>
+      <li>
+        <a class="active" href="https://git-scm.com/doc">Documentation</a>
+        <ul class="expanded">
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/docs">Reference</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a class="active" href="https://git-scm.com/book">Book</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/videos">Videos</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/doc/ext">External Links</a>
+          </li>
+        </ul>
+      </li>
+      <li>
+        <a href="https://git-scm.com/downloads">Downloads</a>
+        <ul class="">
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/downloads/guis">GUI Clients</a>
+          </li>
+          <li>
+            <a href="https://git-scm.com/downloads/logos">Logos</a>
+          </li>
+        </ul>
+      </li>
+      <li>
+        <a href="https://git-scm.com/community">Community</a>
+      </li>
+    </ul>
+      <hr class="sidebar">
+        <p>
+This book is available in
+  <a href="https://git-scm.com/book/en">English</a>.
+</p>
+<p>
+  Full translation available in
+  <table>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/az">azərbaycan dili</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/bg">български език</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/de">Deutsch</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/es">Español</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/fr">Français</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/gr">Ελληνικά</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/ja">日本語</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/ko">한국어</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/nl">Nederlands</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/ru">Русский</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/sl">Slovenščina</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/tl">Tagalog</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/uk">Українська</a></td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/zh">简体中文</a>,</td></tr>
+  </table>
+</p>
+<p>
+  Partial translations available in
+  <table>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/cs">Čeština</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/mk">Македонски</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/pl">Polski</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/sr">Српски</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/uz">Ўзбекча</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/zh-tw">繁體中文</a>,</td></tr>
+  </table>
+</p>
+<p>
+  Translations started for
+  <table>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/be">Беларуская</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/fa" dir="rtl">فارسی</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/id">Indonesian</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/it">Italiano</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/ms">Bahasa Melayu</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/pt-br">Português (Brasil)</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/pt-pt">Português (Portugal)</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/sv">Svenska</a>,</td></tr>
+    <tr><td><a href="https://git-scm.com/book/tr">Türkçe</a>.</td></tr>
+  </table>
+</p>
+<hr class="sidebar"/>
+<p>
+The source of this book is <a href="https://github.com/progit/progit2">hosted on GitHub.</a></br>
+Patches, suggestions and comments are welcome.
+</p>
+  </nav>
+</aside>
+        <div id="content">
+<div id='book-chapters'>
+  <a class="dropdown-trigger" id="book-chapters-trigger" data-panel-id="chapters-dropdown" href="ch00/_switching_branches.html#">Chapters ▾</a>
+<div class='dropdown-panel' id='chapters-dropdown'>
+  <div class="three-column">
+    <div class='column-left'>
+      <ol class='book-toc'>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>1. <a href="ch00/ch01-getting-started.html">Getting Started</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          1.1
+          <a href="ch00/ch01-getting-started.html" >About Version Control </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.2
+          <a href="Getting-Started-A-Short-History-of-Git.html" >A Short History of Git </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.3
+          <a href="ch00/what_is_git_section.html" >What is Git? </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.4
+          <a href="Getting-Started-The-Command-Line.html" >The Command Line </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.5
+          <a href="Getting-Started-Installing-Git.html" >Installing Git </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.6
+          <a href="ch00/_editor.html" >First-Time Git Setup </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.7
+          <a href="ch00/_git_help.html" >Getting Help </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          1.8
+          <a href="Getting-Started-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>2. <a href="ch00/_git_cloning.html">Git Basics</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          2.1
+          <a href="ch00/_git_cloning.html" >Getting a Git Repository </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.2
+          <a href="ch00/_git_mv.html" >Recording Changes to the Repository </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.3
+          <a href="ch00/_viewing_history.html" >Viewing the Commit History </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.4
+          <a href="ch00/_unstaging.html" >Undoing Things </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.5
+          <a href="ch00/_remote_repos.html" >Working with Remotes </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.6
+          <a href="ch00/_annotated_tags.html" >Tagging </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.7
+          <a href="ch00/_git_aliases.html" >Git Aliases </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          2.8
+          <a href="Git-Basics-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>3. <a href="ch00/_switching_branches.html">Git Branching</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          3.1
+          <a href="ch00/_switching_branches.html" class=active>Branches in a Nutshell </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          3.2
+          <a href="ch00/_basic_branching.html" >Basic Branching and Merging </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          3.3
+          <a href="ch00/_branch_management.html" >Branch Management </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          3.4
+          <a href="ch00/_topic_branch.html" >Branching Workflows </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          3.5
+          <a href="ch00/_delete_branches.html" >Remote Branches </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          3.6
+          <a href="ch00/_rebase_rebase.html" >Rebasing </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          3.7
+          <a href="Git-Branching-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>4. <a href="Git-on-the-Server-The-Protocols.html">Git on the Server</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          4.1
+          <a href="Git-on-the-Server-The-Protocols.html" >The Protocols </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.2
+          <a href="ch00/_bare_repo.html" >Getting Git on a Server </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.3
+          <a href="ch00/_generate_ssh_key.html" >Generating Your SSH Public Key </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.4
+          <a href="ch00/_setting_up_server.html" >Setting Up the Server </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.5
+          <a href="Git-on-the-Server-Git-Daemon.html" >Git Daemon </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.6
+          <a href="Git-on-the-Server-Smart-HTTP.html" >Smart HTTP </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.7
+          <a href="Git-on-the-Server-GitWeb.html" >GitWeb </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.8
+          <a href="ch00/_gitlab_groups_section.html" >GitLab </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.9
+          <a href="Git-on-the-Server-Third-Party-Hosted-Options.html" >Third Party Hosted Options </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          4.10
+          <a href="Git-on-the-Server-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>5. <a href="ch00/_integration_manager.html">Distributed Git</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          5.1
+          <a href="ch00/_integration_manager.html" >Distributed Workflows </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          5.2
+          <a href="ch00/_project_over_email.html" >Contributing to a Project </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          5.3
+          <a href="ch00/_git_am.html" >Maintaining a Project </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          5.4
+          <a href="Distributed-Git-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+</ol>
+    </div>
+    <div class='column-middle'>
+      <ol class='book-toc'>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>6. <a href="ch00/_personal_avatar.html">GitHub</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          6.1
+          <a href="ch00/_personal_avatar.html" >Account Setup and Configuration </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          6.2
+          <a href="ch00/_fetch_and_push_on_different_repositories.html" >Contributing to a Project </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          6.3
+          <a href="ch00/_email_notifications.html" >Maintaining a Project </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          6.4
+          <a href="ch00/_team_page.html" >Managing an organization </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          6.5
+          <a href="ch00/_commit_status.html" >Scripting GitHub </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          6.6
+          <a href="GitHub-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>7. <a href="ch00/_git_reflog.html">Git Tools</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          7.1
+          <a href="ch00/_git_reflog.html" >Revision Selection </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.2
+          <a href="ch00/_interactive_staging.html" >Interactive Staging </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.3
+          <a href="ch00/_git_clean.html" >Stashing and Cleaning </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.4
+          <a href="ch00/_signing_commits.html" >Signing Your Work </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.5
+          <a href="ch00/_git_grep.html" >Searching </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.6
+          <a href="ch00/_removing_file_every_commit.html" >Rewriting History </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.7
+          <a href="ch00/_the_index.html" >Reset Demystified </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.8
+          <a href="ch00/_reverse_commit.html" >Advanced Merging </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.9
+          <a href="ch00/ref_rerere.html" >Rerere </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.10
+          <a href="ch00/_file_annotation.html" >Debugging with Git </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.11
+          <a href="ch00/_publishing_submodules.html" >Submodules </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.12
+          <a href="ch00/_bundling.html" >Bundling </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.13
+          <a href="ch00/_replace.html" >Replace </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.14
+          <a href="ch00/_credential_caching.html" >Credential Storage </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          7.15
+          <a href="Git-Tools-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>8. <a href="ch00/_external_merge_tools.html">Customizing Git</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          8.1
+          <a href="ch00/_external_merge_tools.html" >Git Configuration </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          8.2
+          <a href="ch00/_keyword_expansion.html" >Git Attributes </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          8.3
+          <a href="ch00/_email_hooks.html" >Git Hooks </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          8.4
+          <a href="ch00/_enforcing_commit_message_format.html" >An Example Git-Enforced Policy </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          8.5
+          <a href="Customizing-Git-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>9. <a href="ch00/_git_svn.html">Git and Other Systems</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          9.1
+          <a href="ch00/_git_svn.html" >Git as a Client </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          9.2
+          <a href="ch00/_git_p4.html" >Migrating to Git </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          9.3
+          <a href="Git-and-Other-Systems-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>10. <a href="ch00/_plumbing_porcelain.html">Git Internals</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          10.1
+          <a href="ch00/_plumbing_porcelain.html" >Plumbing and Porcelain </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.2
+          <a href="ch00/_git_commit_objects.html" >Git Objects </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.3
+          <a href="ch00/ref_the_ref.html" >Git References </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.4
+          <a href="Git-Internals-Packfiles.html" >Packfiles </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.5
+          <a href="ch00/_pushing_refspecs.html" >The Refspec </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.6
+          <a href="Git-Internals-Transfer-Protocols.html" >Transfer Protocols </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.7
+          <a href="ch00/_git_gc.html" >Maintenance and Data Recovery </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.8
+          <a href="Git-Internals-Environment-Variables.html" >Environment Variables </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          10.9
+          <a href="Git-Internals-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+</ol>
+    </div>
+    <div class='column-right'>
+      <ol class='book-toc'>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>A1. <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Graphical-Interfaces.html">Appendix A: Git in Other Environments</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          A1.1
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Graphical-Interfaces.html" >Graphical Interfaces </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.2
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Visual-Studio.html" >Git in Visual Studio </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.3
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Visual-Studio-Code.html" >Git in Visual Studio Code </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.4
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-IntelliJ-%252F-PyCharm-%252F-WebStorm-%252F-PhpStorm-%252F-RubyMine.html" >Git in IntelliJ / PyCharm / WebStorm / PhpStorm / RubyMine </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.5
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Sublime-Text.html" >Git in Sublime Text </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.6
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-Bash.html" >Git in Bash </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.7
+          <a href="ch00/oh_my_zsh_git.html" >Git in Zsh </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.8
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Git-in-PowerShell.html" >Git in PowerShell </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A1.9
+          <a href="./Appendix-A:-Git-in-Other-Environments-Summary.html" >Summary </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>A2. <a href="./Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Command-line-Git.html">Appendix B: Embedding Git in your Applications</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          A2.1
+          <a href="./Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Command-line-Git.html" >Command-line Git </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A2.2
+          <a href="ch00/_libgit2_bindings.html" >Libgit2 </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A2.3
+          <a href="./Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-JGit.html" >JGit </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A2.4
+          <a href="./Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-go-git.html" >go-git </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A2.5
+          <a href="./Appendix-B:-Embedding-Git-in-your-Applications-Dulwich.html" >Dulwich </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+  <li class='chapter'>
+  <h2>A3. <a href="ch00/ch_core_editor.html">Appendix C: Git Commands</a></h2>
+    <ol>
+        <li>
+          A3.1
+          <a href="ch00/ch_core_editor.html" >Setup and Config </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.2
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Getting-and-Creating-Projects.html" >Getting and Creating Projects </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.3
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Basic-Snapshotting.html" >Basic Snapshotting </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.4
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Branching-and-Merging.html" >Branching and Merging </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.5
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Sharing-and-Updating-Projects.html" >Sharing and Updating Projects </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.6
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Inspection-and-Comparison.html" >Inspection and Comparison </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.7
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Debugging.html" >Debugging </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.8
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Patching.html" >Patching </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.9
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Email.html" >Email </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.10
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-External-Systems.html" >External Systems </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.11
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Administration.html" >Administration </a>
+        </li>
+        <li>
+          A3.12
+          <a href="./Appendix-C:-Git-Commands-Plumbing-Commands.html" >Plumbing Commands </a>
+        </li>
+    </ol>
+  </li>
+</ol>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+ </div>
+    <span class="light" id="edition">
+      2nd Edition
+    </span>
+</div>
+<div id='main' class="book edition2">
+    <h1>3.1 Git Branching - Branches in a Nutshell</h1>
+  <div><p>
+Nearly every VCS has some form of branching support.
+Branching means you diverge from the main line of development and continue to do work without messing with that main line.
+In many VCS tools, this is a somewhat expensive process, often requiring you to create a new copy of your source code directory, which can take a long time for large projects.</p><p>Some people refer to Git’s branching model as its “killer feature,” and it certainly sets Git apart in the VCS community.
+Why is it so special?
+The way Git branches is incredibly lightweight, making branching operations nearly instantaneous, and switching back and forth between branches generally just as fast.
+Unlike many other VCSs, Git encourages workflows that branch and merge often, even multiple times in a day.
+Understanding and mastering this feature gives you a powerful and unique tool and can entirely change the way that you develop.</p>
+<h2 id="_git_branches_overview">Branches in a Nutshell</h2>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>To really understand the way Git does branching, we need to take a step back and examine how Git stores its data.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>As you may remember from <a href="ch00/what_is_git_section.html">What is Git?</a>, Git doesn’t store data as a series of changesets or differences, but instead as a series of <em>snapshots</em>.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>When you make a commit, Git stores a commit object that contains a pointer to the snapshot of the content you staged.
+This object also contains the author’s name and email address, the message that you typed, and pointers to the commit or commits that directly came before this commit (its parent or parents): zero parents for the initial commit, one parent for a normal commit, and multiple parents for a commit that results from a merge of two or more branches.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>To visualize this, let’s assume that you have a directory containing three files, and you stage them all and commit.
+Staging the files computes a checksum for each one (the SHA-1 hash we mentioned in <a href="ch00/what_is_git_section.html">What is Git?</a>), stores that version of the file in the Git repository (Git refers to them as <em>blobs</em>), and adds that checksum to the staging area:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git add README test.rb LICENSE
+$ git commit -m 'Initial commit'</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>When you create the commit by running <code>git commit</code>, Git checksums each subdirectory (in this case, just the root project directory) and stores them as a tree object in the Git repository.
+Git then creates a commit object that has the metadata and a pointer to the root project tree so it can re-create that snapshot when needed.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>Your Git repository now contains five objects: three <em>blobs</em> (each representing the contents of one of the three files), one <em>tree</em> that lists the contents of the directory and specifies which file names are stored as which blobs, and one <em>commit</em> with the pointer to that root tree and all the commit metadata.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/commit-and-tree.png" alt="A commit and its tree">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 9. A commit and its tree</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>If you make some changes and commit again, the next commit stores a pointer to the commit that came immediately before it.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/commits-and-parents.png" alt="Commits and their parents">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 10. Commits and their parents</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>A branch in Git is simply a lightweight movable pointer to one of these commits.
+The default branch name in Git is <code>master</code>.
+As you start making commits, you’re given a <code>master</code> branch that points to the last commit you made.
+Every time you commit, the <code>master</code> branch pointer moves forward automatically.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="admonitionblock note">
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td class="icon">
+<div class="title">Note</div>
+</td>
+<td class="content">
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>The “master” branch in Git is not a special branch.
+It is exactly like any other branch.
+The only reason nearly every repository has one is that the <code>git init</code> command creates it by default and most people don’t bother to change it.</p>
+</div>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/branch-and-history.png" alt="A branch and its commit history">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 11. A branch and its commit history</div>
+</div>
+<div class="sect3">
+<h3 id="_create_new_branch">Creating a New Branch</h3>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>
+What happens when you create a new branch?
+Well, doing so creates a new pointer for you to move around.
+Let’s say you want to create a new branch called <code>testing</code>.
+You do this with the <code>git branch</code> command:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git branch testing</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>This creates a new pointer to the same commit you’re currently on.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/two-branches.png" alt="Two branches pointing into the same series of commits">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 12. Two branches pointing into the same series of commits</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>How does Git know what branch you’re currently on?
+It keeps a special pointer called <code>HEAD</code>.
+Note that this is a lot different than the concept of <code>HEAD</code> in other VCSs you may be used to, such as Subversion or CVS.
+In Git, this is a pointer to the local branch you’re currently on.
+In this case, you’re still on <code>master</code>.
+The <code>git branch</code> command only <em>created</em> a new branch — it didn’t switch to that branch.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/head-to-master.png" alt="HEAD pointing to a branch">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 13. HEAD pointing to a branch</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>You can easily see this by running a simple <code>git log</code> command that shows you where the branch pointers are pointing.
+This option is called <code>--decorate</code>.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git log --oneline --decorate
+f30ab (HEAD -&gt; master, testing) Add feature #32 - ability to add new formats to the central interface
+34ac2 Fix bug #1328 - stack overflow under certain conditions
+98ca9 Initial commit</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>You can see the <code>master</code> and <code>testing</code> branches that are right there next to the <code>f30ab</code> commit.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="sect3">
+<h3 id="_switching_branches">Switching Branches</h3>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>
+To switch to an existing branch, you run the <code>git checkout</code> command.
+Let’s switch to the new <code>testing</code> branch:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git checkout testing</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>This moves <code>HEAD</code> to point to the <code>testing</code> branch.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/head-to-testing.png" alt="HEAD points to the current branch">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 14. HEAD points to the current branch</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>What is the significance of that?
+Well, let’s do another commit:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ vim test.rb
+$ git commit -a -m 'made a change'</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/advance-testing.png" alt="The HEAD branch moves forward when a commit is made">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 15. The HEAD branch moves forward when a commit is made</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>This is interesting, because now your <code>testing</code> branch has moved forward, but your <code>master</code> branch still points to the commit you were on when you ran <code>git checkout</code> to switch branches.
+Let’s switch back to the <code>master</code> branch:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git checkout master</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="admonitionblock note">
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td class="icon">
+<div class="title">Note</div>
+</td>
+<td class="content">
+<div class="title">
+<code>git log</code> doesn’t show <em>all</em> the branches <em>all</em> the time</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>If you were to run <code>git log</code> right now, you might wonder where the "testing" branch you just created went, as it would not appear in the output.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>The branch hasn’t disappeared; Git just doesn’t know that you’re interested in that branch and it is trying to show you what it thinks you’re interested in.
+In other words, by default, <code>git log</code> will only show commit history below the branch you’ve checked out.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>To show commit history for the desired branch you have to explicitly specify it: <code>git log testing</code>.
+To show all of the branches, add <code>--all</code> to your <code>git log</code> command.</p>
+</div>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<div class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/checkout-master.png" alt="HEAD moves when you checkout">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 16. HEAD moves when you checkout</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>That command did two things.
+It moved the HEAD pointer back to point to the <code>master</code> branch, and it reverted the files in your working directory back to the snapshot that <code>master</code> points to.
+This also means the changes you make from this point forward will diverge from an older version of the project.
+It essentially rewinds the work you’ve done in your <code>testing</code> branch so you can go in a different direction.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="admonitionblock note">
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td class="icon">
+<div class="title">Note</div>
+</td>
+<td class="content">
+<div class="title">Switching branches changes files in your working directory</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>It’s important to note that when you switch branches in Git, files in your working directory will change.
+If you switch to an older branch, your working directory will be reverted to look like it did the last time you committed on that branch.
+If Git cannot do it cleanly, it will not let you switch at all.</p>
+</div>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>Let’s make a few changes and commit again:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ vim test.rb
+$ git commit -a -m 'made other changes'</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>Now your project history has diverged (see <a href="ch00/divergent_history.html">Divergent history</a>).
+You created and switched to a branch, did some work on it, and then switched back to your main branch and did other work.
+Both of those changes are isolated in separate branches: you can switch back and forth between the branches and merge them together when you’re ready.
+And you did all that with simple <code>branch</code>, <code>checkout</code>, and <code>commit</code> commands.</p>
+</div>
+<div id="divergent_history" class="imageblock">
+<div class="content">
+<img src="images/advance-master.png" alt="Divergent history">
+</div>
+<div class="title">Figure 17. Divergent history</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>You can also see this easily with the <code>git log</code> command.
+If you run <code>git log --oneline --decorate --graph --all</code> it will print out the history of your commits, showing where your branch pointers are and how your history has diverged.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="listingblock">
+<div class="content">
+<pre class="highlight"><code class="language-console" data-lang="console">$ git log --oneline --decorate --graph --all
+* c2b9e (HEAD, master) Made other changes
+| * 87ab2 (testing) Made a change
+|/
+* f30ab Add feature #32 - ability to add new formats to the central interface
+* 34ac2 Fix bug #1328 - stack overflow under certain conditions
+* 98ca9 initial commit of my project</code></pre>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>Because a branch in Git is actually a simple file that contains the 40 character SHA-1 checksum of the commit it points to, branches are cheap to create and destroy.
+Creating a new branch is as quick and simple as writing 41 bytes to a file (40 characters and a newline).</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>This is in sharp contrast to the way most older VCS tools branch, which involves copying all of the project’s files into a second directory.
+This can take several seconds or even minutes, depending on the size of the project, whereas in Git the process is always instantaneous.
+Also, because we’re recording the parents when we commit, finding a proper merge base for merging is automatically done for us and is generally very easy to do.
+These features help encourage developers to create and use branches often.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>Let’s see why you should do so.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="admonitionblock note">
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td class="icon">
+<div class="title">Note</div>
+</td>
+<td class="content">
+<div class="title">Creating a new branch and switching to it at the same time</div>
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>It’s typical to create a new branch and want to switch to that new branch at the same time — this can be done in one operation with <code>git checkout -b &lt;newbranchname&gt;</code>.</p>
+</div>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<div class="admonitionblock note">
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td class="icon">
+<div class="title">Note</div>
+</td>
+<td class="content">
+<div class="paragraph">
+<p>From Git version 2.23 onwards you can use <code>git switch</code> instead of <code>git checkout</code> to:</p>
+</div>
+<div class="ulist">
+<ul>
+<li>
+<p>Switch to an existing branch: <code>git switch testing-branch</code>.</p>
+</li>
+<li>
+<p>Create a new branch and switch to it: <code>git switch -c new-branch</code>. The <code>-c</code> flag stands for create, you can also use the full flag: <code>--create</code>.</p>
+</li>
+<li>
+<p>Return to your previously checked out branch: <code>git switch -</code>.</p>
+</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+</div>
+<div id="nav"><a href="Git-Basics-Summary.html">prev</a> | <a href="ch00/_basic_branching.html">next</a></div></div>
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