Bits of .NET

🔀 The Context Switch Nightmare

You’re deep in feature work. Urgent bug reported. You stash, switch branches, fix bug, switch back, pop stash… 20 minutes lost. Your flow? Destroyed.

❌ The Old Way (Painful)

# Working on feature branch
$ git status
On branch feature/new-dashboard
Changes not staged...

# Urgent bug!
$ git stash
$ git checkout hotfix/critical-bug
$ vim fix.js
$ git add . && git commit -m "Fix"
$ git checkout feature/new-dashboard
$ git stash pop

# Problems:
# - Lost 5-10 minutes switching
# - Forgot what you were doing
# - Stash conflicts
# - Can't run both branches simultaneously

✅ Git Worktrees (Seamless)

# Setup once
$ cd ~/projects/myapp
$ git worktree add ../myapp-hotfix hotfix/critical-bug
$ git worktree add ../myapp-feature2 feature/other-feature

# Your folder structure:
~/projects/
  myapp/              (main branch)
  myapp-hotfix/       (hotfix branch)
  myapp-feature2/     (feature branch)

# Now just switch folders!
$ cd ../myapp-hotfix
$ vim fix.js
$ git commit -m "Fix"
$ cd ../myapp  # Back to feature work instantly!

# Benefits:
# - Zero context switching time
# - No stashing
# - Run multiple branches at once (different ports)
# - Each worktree has its own node_modules!

🛠️ Essential Worktree Commands

# Create worktree for existing branch
git worktree add ../myapp-hotfix hotfix/critical-bug

# Create worktree AND new branch
git worktree add -b feature/new-thing ../myapp-newthing

# List all worktrees
git worktree list
# /Users/dev/projects/myapp           abc1234 [main]
# /Users/dev/projects/myapp-hotfix    def5678 [hotfix/critical-bug]

# Remove worktree (after you're done)
git worktree remove ../myapp-hotfix

# Or just delete the folder
rm -rf ../myapp-hotfix
git worktree prune  # Clean up references

# Move worktree
git worktree move ../myapp-hotfix ../archive/myapp-hotfix

🎯 My Personal Workflow

~/projects/
  myapp/           # main - stable code
  myapp-dev/       # develop - current sprint
  myapp-hotfix/    # For urgent fixes
  myapp-review/    # For reviewing PRs

# Terminal tabs:
Tab 1: myapp-dev    (my active work)
Tab 2: myapp-hotfix (ready for emergencies)
Tab 3: myapp-review (reviewing teammates code)

# Can run all 3 on different ports simultaneously!
# myapp-dev:    localhost:3000
# myapp-hotfix: localhost:3001
# myapp-review: localhost:3002