Chapter · Git

Branching & Integration

Branching is where Git becomes more than a save button. This chapter covers how lines of work split, rejoin, conflict, and become release points.

Topics

Branches in a Nutshell

Branch names, HEAD, commit graphs, and why making a branch is cheap.

Moving between branches, detached HEAD, clean working trees, and when checkout still appears.

Fast-forward merges, true merge commits, merge bases, and how Git combines histories.

Conflict markers, resolution workflow, mergetools, index stages, and habits that reduce pain.

Replay, interactive rebase, squashing, autosquash, and the line between local cleanup and public rewriting.

Moving one change without merging a whole branch, plus the tradeoffs of patch-based integration.

Lightweight tags, annotated tags, signed tags, version labels, and release points in history.