Use a stack to move between git branches.

xgit

#!/bin/bash

# Stores the current branch in a file so that popbranch can restore it later.
#


# Find the root of the git repo
while [ `ls -lad .git 2>&1 | grep -v 'No such file' | wc -l` -eq 0 ]; do
   if [ $PWD == '/' ]; then
      echo Not a git repo
      exit 127
   fi
   cd ..
done

echo Found git root in $PWD

function die() {
   echo $2
   exit $1
}

function print_help_msg () {
   echo '
GitBranchStack: stores current branch in a stack before changing to a new
branch. Return to previous branch by using the "pop" command

USAGE
   xgit <pop | list | print | drop | help>
   xgit <branch-name>

COMMANDS:
   With no command specified, this message is printed. The first and only
argument to this program will be interpreted as the name of the branch to
switch to. When switching, the name of the current branch is pushed onto a
stack and the branch is changed to the specified branch.

   When popping, the repo is switched to the branch name at the top of the
stack.

   If the argument is one of pop, list, print, drop or help then the following
behaviour occurs:
   help        Display this message
   list        Displays all the branches in the stack
   print       Displays all the branches in the stack
   drop        Removes the last branch from the stack without switching to it.
   '
}

function gbspop() {
   NLINES=`wc -l < .gitbranchstack`
   NEWBRANCH="`tail -n 1 .gitbranchstack`"
   [ "$NLINES" -eq 0 ] && die 1 "Branch stack empty, doing nothing"
   [ "$NEWBRANCH" == '' ] && die 2 "Branch stack empty, doing nothing"
   git checkout "$NEWBRANCH" || die 127 "Failed to checkout branch"
   NEWLINES=$(($NLINES - 1))
   head -n $NEWLINES .gitbranchstack > /tmp/gbs.tmp
   mv /tmp/gbs.tmp .gitbranchstack
}

function gbsdrop() {
   NLINES=`wc -l < .gitbranchstack`
   [ "$NLINES" -eq 0 ] && die 3 "Branch stack empty, doing nothing"
   NLINES=$(($NLINES - 1))
   BRANCHNAME="`head -n 1 .gitbranchstack`"
   echo "Dropping branch '$BRANCHNAME' from stack"
   tail -n $NLINES .gitbranchstack > xgit.tmpfile
   mv xgit.tmpfile .gitbranchstack
}

BRANCH="`git branch | grep '*' | cut -f 2 -d \  `"
case "$1" in
   pop)  echo Popping over $BRANCH
      gbspop
      ;;
   list|print) cat .gitbranchstack
      exit 0
      ;;
   drop) echo Dropping one branch
      gbsdrop
      ;;
   ''|help) print_help_msg
      exit 0
      ;;
   *) echo Pushing $BRANCH, switching to "$1"
      git checkout "$1" && echo $BRANCH >> .gitbranchstack
      ;;
esac

echo "Done"
echo Current branch: `git branch | grep '*' | cut -f 2 -d \  `