Checking out an old commit and maintaining the head on the master branch?

Question

Currently for switching to another git commit (on the same branch...actually, on the master branch!), I\'m executing the command

git checkout ea3d5ed039edd6d         


        

Answer 1

If you simply want to return to an earlier commit to play with it without making any changes, you can do

git co 

you'll will be on a branch called "(no branch)" after this command.

Confirm this by

git br

After you've played with this previously committed code, you can switch to the branch you were on by

git co 

The "(no branch)" will be deleted automatically. This way you don't need to create a temporary branch.