Master Git — Just Like Understanding a Tree 🌳

BRANCH 🌿

🧠 What Is a Branch in Git?

🧠 What Is a Branch in Git? In Git, a branch is sort of like an alternate reality where you can go work on something new (a feature, a fix, or testing) without affecting the main project.

Think of Git like a tree:

• The main trunk is the Main/Master branch (the stable, core version of your project).

• The branches are like Feature or QA branches where different tasks grow.

• This lets you experiment without harming the main tree.

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🌳 Real-World Analogy: Tree and Branches

Imagine a fruit tree:

• The main stem is the Main or Master branch.

• Each branch is a feature or QA branch.

• Branches come from the main trunk, but they grow in different directions with their own leaves.

• Once a branch is ready, you merge it back to the main trunk.

Git Branch Tree Analogy

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✍️ Rule of Thumb:

NEVER make changes directly in main or master branch.
Always create a new branch (called a feature branch or sub-branch) for any new task or change.

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🔧 Common Git Branch Commands

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🔄 Types of Git Platforms (Where You Use Git Remotely)

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🆚 Git CLI Has master, GitHub Uses main – What’s the Difference?

📜 Background:

• Older versions of Git (especially on the command line) used master as the default branch name.

• GitHub now uses main as the default name for new repositories to follow more inclusive naming practices.

✅ Functionally the Same:

• master and main are just names. Both work exactly the same.

• If you clone a repo and see main, it's just the modern default.

🔁 Rename master to main (if needed):

branch -m master main              # Rename locally

git push -u origin main            # Push new main branch

git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD refs/remotes/origin/main

💡 You might also need to update the default branch settings in GitHub if you rename it.

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