Explain what is meant by the term 'branch' in version control systems.

In a version control system (for example, Git), a branch is an independent line of development that allows parallel work on different changes in a project. A branch contains a sequence of commits separated from the main (usually master or main) branch. This enables developers to experiment, add new features, or fix bugs without affecting the stable version of the code.

Example: you create a feature branch for developing a new function, make commits there, and after completing the work, merge it back into the main branch.