Understanding Git References: Branches, Tags, and HEAD

Git can feel like a black box until you understand how it actually tracks your codebase. By mastering Git references, you demystify version control and gain absolute confidence in your daily development workflow. This text-based course guides you from foundational Git concepts to a clear mental model of how branches, tags, and pointers interact. You will learn to navigate repository history, manage releases, and safely recover lost work. What you'll learn: - Understand the core Git object model including commits, trees, and references - Navigate your commit history using HEAD, relative refs, and detached states - Manage local and remote branches using modern commands like switch and restore - Create lightweight and annotated tags to mark key development releases - Recover lost commits and track repository changes using the reflog - Apply best practices for clean branch organization and conflict resolution. You will start with essential terminology and the inner workings of Git before moving into practical, step-by-step text explanations and scenarios. Designed for beginners who want to move beyond memorizing commands, this course requires no advanced prerequisites. Start reading today to truly master Git from the inside out.