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Software Engineering vocabulary · Version Control

Branch

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/bræntʃ/nounCore term

In software engineering, branch means: A separate line of development in a repository, where you can work on changes without affecting the main code until you are ready to merge.

In Turkish: dal, kod dalı

How it is used

You create, switch, push and delete branches. Teams talk about the main branch, feature branches and release branches, and often follow naming rules such as feature/search or fix/login-timeout.

Example sentences

  1. Create a new branch from main before you start the ticket.

  2. My branch is three days behind main, so I need to update it.

Common collocations

  • create a branch
  • switch branches
  • feature branch
  • main branch
  • delete a branch
  • mergeTo combine the changes from one branch into another, so that both sets of work end up in the same code.
  • check outIn Git, to switch your working files to a particular branch or commit so that you can see or work on that version of the code.
  • commitA saved snapshot of changes in a repository, with a short message that explains what was changed and why. Also used as a verb: to commit your changes.
  • rebaseIn Git, to move your branch's commits so that they start from a newer point, usually the latest main, which gives a cleaner, straight-line history.
  • merge conflictA situation where Git cannot combine two branches automatically because both changed the same lines, so a person has to choose the right version.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Version Control

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