git checkout
- Git course
- Intermediate
- Lesson 5/82
- 4 min
Learn to switch branches and files with git checkout.
Switch Branches with git checkout
git checkout is an older, multi-purpose Git command used to switch to another branch. You can move to a branch by writing its name after the command.
git checkout test-environmentThis command can also be used to inspect an earlier commit. However, using separate commands for restoring files and switching branches is clearer.
Restore Files with Checkout
In its older usage, git checkout can also restore files to the content stored in a specific revision. For example, git checkout HEAD -- index.html restores index.html to the version recorded by HEAD.
This operation can discard current working tree changes in the file. In modern Git usage, git restore is clearer for restoring files.
Practice Switch to the Review Branch with Checkout
Use git checkout to switch to the branch named inceleme. Then print a message indicating that the switch is complete.
Starter code
print("Dal değişimi hazırlanıyor")Sample solution
git checkout inceleme
print("İnceleme dalına geçildi")Expected output
Dal değişimi hazırlanıyor İnceleme dalına geçildi
Questions and answers
Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.
1 Which command switches to the test-environment branch in the current repository?
- git checkout test-ortami Correct answer
- git checkout -d test-ortami
- git restore test-ortami
- git commit test-ortami
Explanation: Correct. Using git checkout followed by a branch name switches to that branch.
2 Select a Branch with Checkout
git checkout ____git checkout incelemeExplanation: The branch name follows the command. This switches to the inceleme branch.
3 Checkout Uses
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
git checkout inceleme |
Switches to the named branch |
git checkout HEAD -- dosya |
Restores a file to HEAD content |
HEAD |
Identifies the current revision |
-- |
Separates the path from options |