Creating branches with git branch - Practice Exercises

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of creating a new branch?

You run the command git branch feature1 in a repository. What will be the output shown in the terminal?

Git

git branch feature1

A Switched to branch 'feature1'

B Created branch feature1 and switched to it.

C error: branch 'feature1' already exists.

D No output is shown; the branch is created silently.

💡 Hint

The git branch command creates a branch but does not switch to it.

The git branch feature1 command creates a new branch named feature1 silently without switching to it or showing output.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What branches exist after creating a branch?

You have a repository with a single branch main. You run git branch dev. What branches will git branch list now?

Git

git branch dev
git branch

A * dev

B

  main
* dev

C

* main
  dev

D dev

💡 Hint

The star (*) marks the current branch.

After creating dev branch, the current branch remains main. So git branch lists * main and dev.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Which command sequence creates and switches to a new branch?

You want to create a new branch called featureX and start working on it immediately. Which sequence of commands achieves this?

A

git branch featureX
git checkout featureX

B git branch featureX

C

git checkout featureX
git branch featureX

D git checkout -b featureX

💡 Hint

Creating a branch and switching are two separate steps unless combined.

git branch featureX creates the branch, then git checkout featureX switches to it. Option A is a shortcut but not a sequence.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Why does git branch fail to create a branch?

You run git branch main but get the error: fatal: A branch named 'main' already exists. What is the cause?

A The branch name 'main' is reserved and cannot be used.

B The branch 'main' already exists; you cannot create it again.

C You need to add files before creating a branch.

D You are not inside a git repository.

💡 Hint

Branch names must be unique in the repository.

The error means the branch main already exists. Git does not allow duplicate branch names.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

What happens internally when you run git branch new-feature?

Choose the correct description of what git branch new-feature does internally in the git repository.

A It creates a new pointer named 'new-feature' that points to the current commit, without changing HEAD.

B It creates a new commit named 'new-feature' and switches HEAD to it.

C It deletes the current branch and replaces it with 'new-feature'.

D It creates a new branch and immediately switches HEAD to it.

💡 Hint

Think about what a branch really is in git.

A branch in git is a pointer to a commit. The command creates a new pointer to the current commit but does not move HEAD or switch branches.