Re: [PATCH][Outreachy] branch -D: allow - as abbreviation of @{-1}

From: Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>
Date: Mar 21, 2016, 17:56 UTC
Message-ID: <CAPig+cQNBeBaLb-znNgxOanUz++pQLae=c8vUtFXjqxOns4d-g@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqtwjzn2nu.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com>

On Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 1:47 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:

Show 14 quoted lines

> Matthieu Moy <Matthieu.Moy@grenoble-inp.fr> writes:
>> But I'm not sure how often people want to delete (force-delete according
>> to your message) the branch they just come from.
>
> One that I heard was this sequence:
>
>     $ git checkout -b work master
>     $ work work work ...
>     $ git checkout master
>     $ git merge work
>     $ git branch -d work
>
> where their argument was that they are done with the work branch,
> and it no longer is needed.

I frequently use throwaway branches when messing around with some idea or when reviewing patches submitted to the mailing list, and the workflow ends up being similar to the above:

    $ git checkout -b throwaway master
    $ ...work work work...
    $ git checkout master
    $ git branch -D throwaway

So, I can see how having "git branch -D" (force-delete) recognize "-" could be a convenience.