On Tue, Feb 02, 2010 at 02:04:22PM -0800, Ron Garret wrote: > In article <20100202191942.GB9628@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, > "J. Bruce Fields" <bfields@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > My memory is that I'd seen the word "branch" used for both meanings (a > > linear piece of history, and a ref under ref/heads/), so figured we > > needed terms for both. > > > > But then I didn't really use that distinction anywhere. On a quick skim > > the only instance I can see of the first sense is in > > http://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git-core/docs/user-manual.html#counting-com > > mits-on-a-branch, > > which could probably be reworded. > > > > It still may be worth acknowledging the confusion; e.g., something like: > > > > In the above diagram, "A", "B", and "master" are all references > > to a point in history. We call all three "branches". > > > > Informally, the word "branch" is sometimes also used to the > > entire line of development leading up to one of these points, > > or, more generally, to any individual line of development. But > > when speaking about git, a "branch" (or "branch head") will > > always be a reference to a point in history, and in particular a > > reference which may be advanced to new commits by future > > development. > > > > Eh, I don't know if that's helpful; maybe that section could just be > > deleted. Or replaced by a more general discusion of the ref/ namespace. > > FWIW, I find the above verbiage to to be very clear, much better than > what is there now. You might also add that branches are almost exactly > the same as tags. The only difference (AFAIK) is that tags get dragged > along by commits and resets and tags don't. Might also be worth considering whether this: http://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git-core/docs/user-manual.html#how-git-stores-references or some other general introduction to refs, should be moved to appear earlier in the manual. Apologies, though, I can't volunteer for now; if you'd like any of this to happen, I'd recommend sending Junio patches. (I'll try to read them if you cc: me.) --b. -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html