Referring to the previous/next commit in git?

Question

I have seen git commands use a syntax such as HEAD~, but I haven\'t been able to find this syntax in the Git Reference Manual.

Here is what I have under

Answer 1

You have a very clear explanation of how this works in the chapter on Acenstry References in Pro Git:

• ~ is used to get the first parent.
• ^ can be used to get the other parents (^2, for example, for a merge).

But you don't have a simple way to reference the next commit, even if there are more convoluted ways to get it.