Set Branch Alias with Git

By  on  

Version control systems can be difficult to use, especially when you don't use a UI app. Just think about main branch or revision names: svn uses "trunk", git uses "master", and mercurial (hg) uses "tip". I need to switch between mercurial and git frequently, so I end up reversing command and branch names constantly.

To set a git branch alias, execute the following:

# alias -> real branch
git symbolic-ref refs/heads/trunk refs/heads/master

With the alias in place, you can execute commands like:

git checkout trunk
git branch # * master

Not only can you create git aliases for commands, but you can create aliases for branches!

Recent Features

  • By
    9 Mind-Blowing Canvas Demos

    The <canvas> element has been a revelation for the visual experts among our ranks.  Canvas provides the means for incredible and efficient animations with the added bonus of no Flash; these developers can flash their awesome JavaScript skills instead.  Here are nine unbelievable canvas demos that...

  • By
    Responsive and Infinitely Scalable JS Animations

    Back in late 2012 it was not easy to find open source projects using requestAnimationFrame() - this is the hook that allows Javascript code to synchronize with a web browser's native paint loop. Animations using this method can run at 60 fps and deliver fantastic...

Incredible Demos

  • By
    JavaScript Canvas Image Conversion

    At last week's Mozilla WebDev Offsite, we all spent half of the last day hacking on our future Mozilla Marketplace app. One mobile app that recently got a lot of attention was Instagram, which sold to Facebook for the bat shit crazy price of one...

  • By
    Create WordPress Page Templates with Custom Queries

    One of my main goals with the redesign was to make it easier for visitors to find the information that was most popular on my site. Not to my surprise, posts about MooTools, jQuery, and CSS were at the top of the list. What...

Discussion

  1. Michael

    Any idea how to do this in a Bitbucket repository? Can I push this symbolic refs somehow?

Wrap your code in <pre class="{language}"></pre> tags, link to a GitHub gist, JSFiddle fiddle, or CodePen pen to embed!