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Git Repository

  • a local repository resides on your computer
  • a shared repository resides on a remote service, e.g. GitHub, GitLab

Default branch

Git creates a default branch called main

git config --global init.defaultBranch main
~/.config/git/config
[init]
    # default branch name when creating a new local repository
    defaultBranch = main

Remote Branches

Use the --track flag with git checkout for remote branches that are not yet local.

Checkout a remote branch, creating a local branch of the same name

git checkout --track origin/remote-branch-name
Output of Checkout Remote Branch 
$ git checkout --track origin/remote-branch-name

Branch remote-branch-name set up to track remote branch newsletter from origin.
Switched to a new branch 'remote-branch-name'

A local branch is created using the unqualified name of the remote branch, remote-branch-name. This local branch is used to track the remote branch, allowing changes to be pulled and pushed.