Creating and switching in one step in Git - Practice Exercises

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of creating and switching to a new branch

What is the output of the command git switch -c feature when run in a clean repository?

Git

git switch -c feature

A Switched to a new branch 'feature'

B error: pathspec 'feature' did not match any file(s) known to git

C Already on 'feature'

D fatal: You are not currently on a branch.

💡 Hint

The command creates a new branch and switches to it in one step.

The git switch -c feature command creates a new branch named 'feature' and switches to it immediately, showing the message 'Switched to a new branch 'feature''.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Error when switching to an existing branch with -c

What happens if you run git switch -c main when the branch 'main' already exists?

Git

git switch -c main

A error: pathspec 'main' did not match any file(s) known to git

B fatal: A branch named 'main' already exists.

C Switched to branch 'main'

D Switched to a new branch 'main'

💡 Hint

The -c option tries to create a new branch, so it fails if the branch exists.

Using -c with git switch tries to create a new branch. If the branch already exists, Git shows an error: 'fatal: A branch named 'main' already exists.'

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Correct command to create and switch to a new branch in one step

Which command correctly creates and switches to a new branch named 'release' in one step?

A git switch -c release

B git switch release -c

C git checkout -b release

D git branch release && git switch release

💡 Hint

The git switch command with -c creates and switches in one step.

The command git switch -c release creates a new branch 'release' and switches to it immediately. Option A also works but uses the older checkout command. Option A has wrong option order. Option A is two steps, not one.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Troubleshooting error when creating and switching branch

You run git switch -c feature but get the error: fatal: You have unstaged changes. What is the most likely cause?

A You are not inside a Git repository.

B The branch 'feature' already exists.

C You have uncommitted changes that conflict with the new branch creation.

D The remote repository is unreachable.

💡 Hint

Git prevents switching branches if unstaged changes would be lost.

Git blocks switching branches if you have unstaged changes that would be overwritten. You need to commit, stash, or discard changes before switching.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Best practice for creating and switching branches in scripts

In an automated script, which command is best to create and switch to a new branch 'hotfix' only if it does not already exist, without causing errors?

A git branch hotfix || git switch hotfix

B git switch -c hotfix

C git switch hotfix || git switch -c hotfix

D git switch hotfix 2>/dev/null || git switch -c hotfix

💡 Hint

Suppress errors when switching to existing branch, then create if missing.

Option D tries to switch to 'hotfix' branch, suppressing error output, and if it fails (branch missing), it creates and switches with -c. This avoids script failure and handles both cases cleanly.