If you don’t have time to read but want to know what’s there in this series. Find the quick read 👇
On this Series
We are going to see the commonly used Git snippets for the repository which will make you from Noob to Pro.
The Git Repository snippets that we are going to look at in this series are
Local Repository
Branches
Commits
Module
Stash
If you are new to this series check out the Part 1👇
On this Post
In this post, we are going to see the topic Branches which will have the following sub-topics like
Create a local branch
Delete a local branch
Delete detached branches
Delete remote branch
Get the current branch name
Rename remote branch
Discard uncommitted changes
Merge a branch
View local branches
Delete merged branches
View merged branches
View branches sorted by date
1. Create a local branch
The git branch command can be used to create a new branch. When you want to start a new feature, you create a new branch off the main using git branch new_branch. Once created you can then use git checkout new_branch it to switch to that branch.
git checkout -b ＜new-branch＞
#Example
git checkout -b develop
git checkout -b unitest
2. Delete a local branch
Deletes a local branch.
- Use
git branch -d <branch> to delete the specified local <branch>.
git branch -d # Delete fully merged branch
git branch -D # Delete branch (even if not merged)
#Example
git checkout main
git branch -d patch-1 # Deletes the `patch-1` local branch
3. Delete detached branches
Deletes all detached branches.
git fetch --all --prune
#Example
git checkout main
git branch
# main
# patch-1
# patch-2
# Assuming `patch-1` is detached
git fetch --all --prune
git branch
# main
# patch-2
4. Delete remote branch
Deletes a remote branch.
- Use
git push -d <remote> <branch> to delete the specified remote <branch> on the given <remote>.
git push -d
# Examples
git checkout main
git push -d origin patch-1 # Deletes the `patch-1` remote branch
5. Get the current branch name
Prints the current branch name.
- Use
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD to print the name of the current branch.
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
# Examples
git checkout patch-1
git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD # Prints `patch-1`
6. Rename remote branch
Renames a branch both locally and on the remote.
Use git branch -m <old-name> <new-name> to rename the local <old-name> branch to <new-name>.
Use git push origin --delete <old-name> to delete the old remote branch.
Use git checkout <new-name> to switch to the renamed branch.
Use git push origin -u <new-name> to set <new-name> as the remote branch for the renamed branch.
git branch -m
git push origin --delete
git checkout
git push origin -u
# Example
git checkout main
git branch -m patch-1 patch-2 # Renamed the local branch to `patch-2`
git push origin --delete patch-1
git checkout patch-2
git push origin -u patch-2 # Renames the remote branch to `patch-2`
7. Discard uncommitted changes
Discards all uncommitted changes to the current branch.
- Use
git reset --hard HEAD to reset the local directory to match the latest commit and discard all unstaged changes.
git reset --hard HEAD
# Example
git reset --hard HEAD
# Discards all unstaged changes
8. Merge a branch
Merges a branch into the current branch.
git checkout
git merge
# Example
git checkout main
git merge patch-1 # Merges the `patch-1` branch into `main`
9. View local branches
Prints a list of all local branches.
Use git branch to display a list of all local branches.
Use arrow keys to navigate, and press Q to exit.
git branch
# Example
git branch
# main
# patch-1
# patch-2
10. Delete merged branches
Deletes all local merged branches.
Use git branch --merged <branch> to list all branches merged into <branch>.
Use the pipe operator (|) to pipe the output and grep -v "(^\*|<branch>)" to exclude the current and the target <branch>.
Use the pipe operator (|) to pipe the output and xargs git branch -d to delete all of the found branches.
git branch --merged | grep -v "(^\*|)" | xargs git branch -d
# Example
git checkout main
git branch
# main
# patch-1
# patch-2
# Assuming `patch-1` is merged into main
git branch --merged main | grep -v "(^\*|main)" | xargs git branch -d
git branch
# main
# patch-2
11. View merged branches
Prints a list of all merged local branches.
Use git branch -a --merged to display a list of all merged local branches.
Use arrow keys to navigate, and press Q to exit.
git branch -a --merged
# Example
git checkout main
git branch -a --merged
# patch-1
# patch-2
12. View branches sorted by date
Prints a list of all local branches sorted by date.
Use git branch --sort=-committerdate to display a list of all local branches and sort them based on the date of their last commit.
Use arrow keys to navigate, and press Q to exit.
git branch --sort=-committerdate
# Examples
git branch --sort=-committerdate
# main
# patch-1
# patch-2
Congratulations!
