> For example having a space or a slash between repo and a branch in a command. Actually, this one makes sense, once you understand the underlying model of how

> For example having a space or a slash between repo and a branch in a command. Actually, this one makes sense, once you understand the underlying model of how git works with remote repositories, which (imo) is fairly fundamental to a distributed VCS. They're different arguments (in your words, having a space) when you're accessing remote repositories and have to specify the location it should access. You can always substitute an URL for a repo in this case, and they fail if you cannot connect to the remote repository. In all other cases (having a slash), you're referencing a ref in your local repository. This is a local copy of the remote repository. That means that it always works offline, but also that it doesn't sync with the remote repository. You can also substitute another ref, such as a "local" branch.