I'd argue that there's a difference between a git branch (an implementation detail) and a development branch (a process feature) and that's the difference the a

I'd argue that there's a difference between a git branch (an implementation detail) and a development branch (a process feature) and that's the difference the author is running up against. Are you teaching someone about development? Or teaching about git? Because a git branch IS a ref. And a git branch is useful because it points at a commit in a series of commits. Branches and commits are slightly different concepts depending on your VCS and it can be worth understanding the details.