Introduction to Git Branches

So far, we have seen how commits are created and how logs can be viewed.
Now we will go one step ahead and visualize branches — where HEAD points, what each branch points to, and how these pointers move after every action.

Why Do We Need Branches?

Think about real apps: they start simple (only posts), then someone says, “let’s add chat,” later voice, then video calls. If we change the stable app directly and it breaks, users suffer.
The safe way is to keep main stable, make a copy (branch), build the feature there, and merge only after testing.

Create the repository

mkdir Project2
cd Project2
git init

By default Git creates a branch named main (older repos often used master).

First file and first commit (on main)

echo "Hello World" > hello.txt
git add hello.txt
git commit -m "First commit"
git log --oneline

Example output:

af9916f First commit

Diagram — after first commit (HEAD on main):

Second commit on main

Our hello file grows a bit.

echo "Hello again" >> hello.txt
git add hello.txt
git commit -m "Second commit"
git log --oneline

Example output:

9672151 Second commit
af9916f First commit

Diagram — second commit chained to first:

Create a feature branch (chat)

We want to add a chat module but keep main safe.

git branch feature_chat

Right now both branches point to the same latest commit.

Diagram — branch created; both pointers same place:

Switch to the feature branch

git switch feature_chat

From now on, new commits go to feature_chat.

Diagram — HEAD moved to feature branch:

Add the chat feature and commit (on feature branch)

We write a small file to represent the chat module.

echo "Chat function added" > chat.txt
git add chat.txt
git commit -m "Added chat feature"
git log --oneline

Example output:

60bd6b5 Added chat feature
9672151 Second commit
af9916f First commit

Diagram — new commit on feature (reference-style blocks):

Read this like a timeline: af9916f → 9672151 on main. We branched and moved feature_chat forward to 60bd6b5, while main still points to 9672151.

Summary

We started a repo and made two commits on main (af9916f → 9672151).
We created feature_chat, which initially pointed to the same commit as main.
After switching, HEAD moved to feature_chat and our new commit 60bd6b5 advanced only that branch.
Visual diagrams after each step make it clear where HEAD and branch pointers live.

In the next blog, we will switch back to main and learn how to merge the feature branch safely — with another set of simple diagrams.

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