What is the role and purpose of branches in the Git version control system?

Branches in Git allow parallel development of different features or fixes without interfering with the main working version of the code. Each branch is a separate line of development with its own set of commits.

Main roles of branches:

• Isolation of changes: you can work on new features without affecting stable code.
• Teamwork convenience: different developers can work in their branches and then merge changes.
• Release management: branches for testing, releases, and fixes allow controlling the release process.

Example of creating and switching branches:

git branch feature-login  # create a branch

git checkout feature-login  # switch to the branch