From the course: Git from Scratch

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DETACHED HEAD: An explanation

DETACHED HEAD: An explanation - Git Tutorial

From the course: Git from Scratch

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DETACHED HEAD: An explanation

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- [Instructor] If you do this, check out a commit in the middle of a branch. You create a bit of a timeline crisis. You're actively trying to alter history and git does not want you to do that because just like in science fiction, if you changed the past, you could change the future which in our case means breaking the coherency of the version control branch. To prevent you from accidentally breaking time and altering history, when you check out a previous commit on any branch, you get this warning - 'Detached Head', which sounds rather ominous. I want to say this is just an example of programmers being a bit too dramatic but the warning detached head actually makes sense because it's an accurate description of what's happening. Git literally detaches head from the branch and puts it to the side. So now you're working out of time in a liminal space not attached to any timeline, which again sounds rather ominous, but is…

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