Unix function and alias to create git branches based off arbitrary text (e.g. A ticket number and description)

gistfile1.txt

# Create a git branch based off of an arbitrary string. Call the function from
# the command line inside a git project and pass in the description (quoted or
# not) as the argument. Your description will be converted to slug format and
# used to checkout a new branch. Useful for quickly creating branches named
# after a ticket # and description.

# Example:

$ git-mb 123 Add a new feature \(Don't forget the tests\!\)
Switched to a new branch '123-add-a-new-feature-don-t-forget-the-tests'
-- Created branch 123-add-a-new-feature-don-t-forget-the-tests

# Or quoted:

$ git-mb "123 Add a new feature (Don't forget the tests\!)"
Switched to a new branch '123-add-a-new-feature-don-t-forget-the-tests'
-- Created branch 123-add-a-new-feature-don-t-forget-the-tests

# Or simply:

$ git-mb Add a new feature
Switched to a new branch 'add-a-new-feature'
-- Created branch add-a-new-feature

git_make_branch.sh

function git-make-branch ()
{
  echo "\$@ = '$@'"
  typeset branch
  if [[ "$@" != "" ]]; then
    branch=$(ruby -e 'puts ARGV.join(" ").strip.gsub(/[\W\s_]+/, " ").downcase.split(" ").join("-")' "$@")
    # echo "branch = '$branch'"
    if [[ "$branch" = "" ]]; then
      echo "-- Could not create branch from supplied arguments"
    else
      git co -b "$branch"
      echo "-- Created branch $branch"
    fi
  else
    echo "-- Could not create branch from supplied arguments"
  fi
}
alias git-mb='git-make-branch'