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Git branch vs commit

I have a master branch to where I had commited my last change and then after I ran

git branch test
git checkout test

I deleted file README in the project folder

then I ran

git checkout master

Now there is no README file anymore.

I thought that when you create a new branch it's just like creating a new commit. What am I doing wrong?

Solution

  • Creating a branch is not like creating a new commit. Creating a branch is like creating an easy to read reference to a commit hash.

    So by being on the master branch and then going:

    git branch test
git checkout test
rm README
git checkout master

    You will still have unstaged changes on the master branch, because you didn't actually do anything to test.

    If you do git status you should have README missing.

    You can get it back by doing git checkout README.