⇦ Back to: Clone | ⇧ Overview | ⇨ Next: Commit
<aside> 📚 Definitions
💡 A branch is a movable label attached to a particular commit. If you have a branch “checked-out”, then when you make a new commit “on the branch”, the branch is updated to point to the new commit. You’ll make a series of commits, and then merge the final commit in that series (which is the “branch”) back into “main”.
💡 The default branch is called main. The current most up-to-date version of the code, excluding any not-yet-merged pull requests, is the commit which the main branch points to.
👵 The default branch was formerly called “master,” a term which has been replaced due to its association with slavery. Some Git documentation still uses the old term.
More info on branches in the Git Book.
</aside>
There are several ways you can make a new branch. - On the GitHub issue page (the easiest option) - In the GitHub Desktop App (the second easiest option) - Using the Git command line tool (the most flexible option)
For all of the methods, you should follow these rules of branch and repository naming: - use-lower-case-with-dashes-separating-the-words - Choose a descriptive name, like 34-feat-update-history-section-formatting or 42-fix-broken-links-in-introduction to help others navigate the branches. - Include the conventional feat or fix keywords at the beginning of the branch name. See conventional names for details.
<aside> ⚠️ Projects involving a few people might have tens of concurrent branches. Non-descriptive names like test-branch1 or final-update, final-update-2 make the task of remembering which branch is which overwhelming or impossible.
</aside>
Click “Create a branch” on the issue page.
A branch name will be suggested, and you can specify how you want to get access to the new branch.
If you click “Open branch with GitHub Desktop”, you should automatically be prompted to open the GitHub Desktop App. (If you’ve not already downloaded the Repository, the Desktop app will handle that for you at this stage.)
If you click “Checkout locally” you’ll be prompted to run some commands in your local copy of the repository.
The new branch will be created and you can start to make changes in your text editor.
Click on “Current Branch” and then “New Branch”
If you currently have the main branch checked out, you’ll be asked to name your new branch.
