Space of Germs of Holomorphic Function A bit of a general question, but here goes. Morally, what is the space of germs of a holomorphic function? 
I know that a germ is simply an equivalence class of function elements, where we regard two function elements as equivalent at a point if they agree on some open neighbourhood of that point. Moreover I know the definition that the space of germs is simply the union of these equivalence classes for all functions $f$ and points $x$. 
This is all a bit abstract at the moment though. I can't see how germs are useful, or how I might calculate them for a concrete function. Has anyone got any nice examples of calculations of the space of germs? And could someone explain the overarching idea behind them in Riemann Surfaces?
Many thanks.
 A: Consider the set of all germs of holomorphic functions at a specific point $x$. If you know of stalks, then this is just $\mathcal{O}_x$. You can think of this set as a collection of all "possible functions" which are holomorphic at that point.
To be precise, you can think of it as the set of all power series which converge in a little neighborhood of $x$. So $\mathcal{O}_x$ is isomorphic to the ring $\mathbb{C}\{z-x\}$ of all convergent power series in $z-x$.
Of course, two functions define the same germ if their power series about $x$ are the same. This gives a method to calculate the germs of a function $f$ at points $x$.
Now the union of all germs of all functions is useful for instance because it allows for the construction of a maximal analytic continuation of a given holomorphic function:
For a Riemann Surface $X$, a point $x\in X$ and a function germ $f$ at $x$, you get a Riemann Surface $Y$ together with an unbranched holomorphic map $Y\rightarrow X$ and a holomorphic function $F$ on all $Y$, such that the germ of $F$  is in some natural way the same as that of $f$. 
Now the space of germs allows for the construction of a "maximal $Y$". You can think of it as the largest possible domain of definition for $f$. Because there may be different continuations of a representative of $f$ in different neighborhoods, you have to consider them all and combine them to get your larger space $Y$.
The actual construction and proofs can be read, for instance, in O. Forster's "Lectures on Riemann Surfaces".
