title: How to Bash Script Git Local Branch Check?
body: <p>Seeking a solution to achieve the following:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>If a branch is not current created on local create</li>
  <li>If it already exists prompt user and move to next statement</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>So far I've got it working but not quite there. My issue really is the latter, but I want to take a moment to rethink the whole thing and get some feedback on how to write this more soundly.</p>
  
  <p>The variable <code>existing_branch</code> provides <em>SHA</em> and the <em>refs/heads/branchName</em> when a branch is there otherwise git takes hold and provides the expected <code>fatal:</code></p>
  
  <pre><code>check_for_branch() {
   args=("$@")
   echo `$branch${args[0]}`
   existing_branch=$?
  }
  
  create_branch() {
    current="git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD"
    branch="git show-ref --verify refs/heads/"
  
    args=("$@")
    branch_present=$(check_for_branch ${args[0]})
    echo $branch_present
    read -p "Do you really want to create branch $1 " ans
    case $ans in
      y | Y | yes | YES | Yes)
          if [  ! -z branch_present ]; then
            echo  "Branch already exists"
          else
            `git branch ${args[0]}`
            echo  "Created ${args[0]} branch"
          fi
      ;;
       n | N | no | NO | No)
        echo "exiting"
      ;;
      *)
      echo "Enter something I can work with y or n."
      ;;
      esac
  }
  </code></pre>