Simple Git Branching Tutorial

$  # go into your repo; substitute your repo name here
$  cd my-repo  # substitute your repo/folder name here
$
$  # make sure you are on the master branch and the status is clean 
$  git status
$
$  # create a new local branch from my-repo; name it: my-branch
$  git checkout -B my-branch
$
$  # the status shows that you are on your new branch
$  git status
$
$  # list the files. it has the same files as your master branch
$  ls
$
$  # switch back to the master branch
$  git checkout master
$
$  git status # on master branch
$
$  # switch back to your new branch
$  git checkout my-branch
$
$  # when you switch branches, you stay in the same folder. Git changes the branch files for you:
$  pwd
$
$  # add some files to your new branch
$  echo "print('hello')" > hello.py
$
$  # see the pending changes in your new branch
$  git status
$
$  # commit files to your new branch
$  git add .
$  git commit -m "changes to my new branch" . 
$  git push origin my-branch  # push new branch and changes to GitLab/GitHub
$
$  # From your browser, look at your new branch in GitHub/GitLab
$  # The master branch is the default; you will have to select the my-branch branch manually
$
$  # Now your new branch is available locally on your computer and remotely in GitHub/GitLab
$  # You can keep your local my-branch branch if you need to make changes to that branch
$
$  # with changes in the my-branch branch, you may want to merge my-branch back into master
$  git checkout master  # check out the branch we want to merge to
$  git merge my-branch  # merge the branch into master
$  git push origin master  # update the master branch in the remote
$
$  # to delete your new branch from your local computer
$  # you cannot be in the my-branch branch while deleting it, so switch to master
$  git checkout master
$
$  git branch -D my-branch # delete the local my-branch branch
$
$  # my-branch is still in the remote GitLab/GitHub server
$  # if you also want to delete the branch from the remote GitLab/GitHub server
$  git push origin --delete my-branch  # delete remote branch!
$