Branching strategy

Git Flow is a popular branching strategy proposed by Vincent Driessen. It introduces a structured branching model with multiple long-lived branches: - master: The main branch containing stable code that is ready for production. - develop: A branch for integrating features and fixes before merging them into the master. - feature/: Short-lived branches created from develop for developing new features. - release/: Branches for preparing releases; they help in final bug fixing and preparation before merging into master and develop. - hotfix/*: Used to quickly address critical bugs found in production.

This strategy is suitable for teams following a disciplined release cycle, ensuring stability and quality.

GitHub Flow is a simpler, more streamlined approach predominantly used in continuous integration and deployment environments. It involves the following: - main: The default branch which always has deployable code. - feature/ or branch/: Short-lived branches created from main for new work. Changes are committed to these branches and merged back into main through pull requests. This ensures that the main branch is always stable and deployable.

This strategy is ideal for teams needing rapid deployment and continuous delivery.

GitLab Flow incorporates aspects of both Git Flow and GitHub Flow, providing flexibility based on an organization’s deployment needs. Key branches include: - main: Production-ready code. - develop or staging: Integration and testing environments. - feature/*: Branches for new features or fixes, merged into develop or staging. - Release management can involve tagging commits on the main branch or using specific release branches.

This strategy works well for teams with complex workflows and multiple environments.

In trunk-based development, all developers work on a single long-lived branch, commonly referred to as trunk or main. Developers frequently commit their changes directly to this branch and continuously integrate their modifications. This strategy promotes rapid integration and reduces merge conflicts by keeping all code changes in a single place. Feature branches are avoided or kept extremely short-lived.

Trunk-based development is suitable for high-paced environments where frequent releases and continuous integration are critical.

Choosing the right branching strategy depends on several factors: - Team size and structure. - Frequency of releases. - Stability and deployment requirements. - Integration and testing workflows.

By carefully considering these factors, teams can select a branching strategy that opt