Git HEAD^ vs Git HEAD~ vs Git HEAD{@}

1. Git HEAD^ (Caret)
2. Git HEAD~ (Tilde)
3. Git HEAD{@}

This article will discuss the difference between a Git caret and a Git tilde. A Git caret is represented by ^ while a tilde is represented by ~.

We will also discuss the HEAD{@}. Let’s start.

Git HEAD^ (Caret)

When introducing a caret to Git HEAD, we point to the commit’s first parent. Hence git HEAD^2 points to the commit’s second parent.

What is a commit’s parent?

A commit’s parent comes into play when we merge one or more branches with another. Let’s look at an example.

Our repo has the Master branch in green and the Other-Branch branch in yellow.

Our commit E on the other-branch is merged with the commit A on the master branch. As such, we can say the commit A has two parent commits.

Hence, a parent commit is simply the previous commit of a commit.

Look at the commands below.

$ git show HEAD^ --oneline

Running the command above will move our HEAD at commit B if we are at commit A.

$ git show HEAD^2 --oneline

On the other hand, the command above will shift our HEAD to commit E.

Note that HEAD^ and HEAD^1 serve the same purpose.

It is worth noting that the above explanation only applies when we have merged branches. If you are working with one branch, then HEAD^ will be the equivalent of HEAD~.

Git HEAD~ (Tilde)

Adding a tilde to the HEAD points at the previous commit of the last commit in our branch. It is like going back in a straight line.

Let’s look at an example.

Hence, if our HEAD is at commit A, then git HEAD~ or git HEAD~1 will shift us to commit B. HEAD~2 will shift us to commit C.

If we are checked out at commit E in the other-branch, HEAD~1 will shift us to commit F and so on.

Git HEAD{@}

This combination points to the position of the reference at a particular time in our local repository. It usually pops up when running a git reflog command, as shown below.

In a nutshell, a caret is useful when we merge branches on other branches, and we need to switch to a commit in a different branch. The tilde allows us to shift to a previous commit of the last commit in a specific branch.

When working on a single branch, HEAD^ is the same as HEAD~.