Re: changing the experimental 'git switch'

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Oct 21, 2021, 23:03 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqq7de6htfg.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <211021.86wnm6l1ip.gmgdl@evledraar.gmail.com>

Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <avarab@gmail.com> writes:

>     | Switch with --merge       | git switch -m branch   | git switch --merge branch |
>     | Create                    | git switch -c new      | git switch -n new         |
>     | Create from existing      | N/A                    | git switch -c new [<old>] |

I agree that adding a way to "clone", which is missing from "checkout/switch/branch", is a good idea. I do not necessarily think it is a good idea to say "-n" is "new" or "-c" is not "create" but is "clone/copy". As you said yourself in a later paragraph, "-n" sometimes is "--dry-run", and as we can see here "-c" in the context of a command that can create and clone (with two verbs behaving differently) is ambiguous.

Starting with a spelled out --copy vs --create without muddying the water with -n may be a sensible way forward.