200-901 Software Development and Design Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  git branch <branch>

  Why it's wrong here

  git branch <branch> only creates the branch; it leaves HEAD on the current branch, so no switch occurs. It is tempting because branch creation is half the task, and this command is correct when you want to create a branch without leaving your current working context.

• ✗

  git branch -d <branch>

  Why it's wrong here

  git branch -d deletes the named branch, which is the opposite of creating and switching to it. It is tempting because it manipulates branches and shares the git branch prefix, but -d is the correct choice only when removing a fully merged local branch.

• ✗

  git checkout <branch>

  Why it's wrong here

  git checkout <branch> switches to an existing branch but does not create it, so it fails when the branch is absent. It is tempting because checkout does change branches, and it is correct when the target branch already exists locally.

• ✓

  git checkout -b <branch>

  Why this is correct

  The -b flag instructs git checkout to create the named branch before switching to it, combining branch creation and checkout in a single command. Without -b, checkout only switches to an existing branch, so this satisfies the one-step requirement in the stem.