git aliases are useful command-line shortcuts to save a minute or two here and there while working with your version-controlled source code (or other data).
Here’s one I’ve been using recently in case it saves you time too. It creates and checks out a new branch based on the latest code in the configured HEAD / upstream branch on the origin remote.
To use it, just add the following line to your `~/.gitconfig`
fb = "!git fetch origin && git checkout -t $(git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD) -b"To use: git fb try/some-new-feature
`fb` is short for “feature branch“
EDITED 2020-07-21 to continue to work with repositories that have moved away from calling the default branch master (Github is changing the default).
Love these shortcuts. Jeff, one question: what does the ! up front do?
Apologies, Lance. I thought I’d replied to this!
The `!` at the beginning of a git alias means to run the entirety of the command “externally” (as opposed to being a subcommand of git).
I use it here because this is a composition of more than one git command.