Create a Git branch for your changes
A branch is a copy of the files in the repository at the time you create the branch.
You can work in your branch without affecting other branches. When
you’re ready to add your changes to the main codebase, you can merge your branch into
the default branch, for example, main.
Use branches when you:
- Want to add code to a project but you’re not sure if it works properly.
- Are collaborating on the project with others, and don’t want your work to get mixed up.
A new branch is often called feature branch to differentiate from the default branch.
Create a branch
To create a feature branch:
git checkout -b <name-of-branch>
GitLab enforces branch naming rules to prevent problems, and provides branch naming patterns to streamline merge request creation.
Switch to a branch
All work in Git is done in a branch. You can switch between branches to see the state of the files and work in that branch.
To switch to an existing branch:
git checkout <name-of-branch>
For example, to change to the main branch:
git checkout main