Git branches, then, can be seen as a pointer to a snapshot of your changes. As you create new commits in the new branch, Git creates new pointers to track the changes. In Git, a branch is essentially a reference or a pointer to the latest commit in a given context it’s not a container for commits. Meanwhile, other VCS tools store information as a list of file-based changes which may slow things down and use up significant space. This means that these branches aren’t just copies of the file system but simply a pointer to the latest commit. The biggest advantage of a Git branch is that it’s ‘lightweight’, meaning that data consists of a series of snapshots so with every commit you make, Git takes a picture of what your files look like at that moment and stores a reference to that snapshot. The default branch in Git is the master branch. Git branches allow developers to diverge from the main branch by creating separate branches to isolate code changes. Put simply, Git and other version control tools allow developers to track, manage and organize their code. However, in this article we focus on Git due to the many advantages this model of branching offers.Ĭonsequently, before we delve into the various branching strategies out there, including Git branching strategies, we will take a look at how Git actually handles branches and why it’s a standout among other VCS tools. Maintain a bug-free code where developers can quickly fix issues and get these changes back to production without disrupting the development workflowīranches are not just exclusive to Git.Map a clear path when making changes to software through to production.Help organize a series of planned, structured releases.Enhance productivity by ensuring proper coordination among developers.Why you need a branching strategyĪs mentioned above, having a branching strategy is necessary to avoid conflicts when merging and to allow for the easier integration of changes into the master trunk. In this post, we will outline some of the branching strategies that teams use in order to organize their workflow where we will look at their pros and cons and which strategy you should choose based on your needs, objectives and your team’s capabilities. When we talk about branches, we are referring to independent lines of code that branch off the master branch, allowing developers to work independently before merging their changes back to the code base. In other words, it enables teams to work in parallel to achieve faster releases and fewer conflicts by creating a clear process when making changes to source control. Thus, adhering to a branching strategy will help solve this issue so that developers can work together without stepping on each other’s toes. Such merge conflicts would eventually deter shipping code quickly and thus hindering from creating and maintaining an efficient DevOps process as the whole purpose of DevOps is creating a fast workflow that would allow for the release of small batches of code. Such a strategy is necessary as it helps keep repositories organized to avoid errors in the application and the dreaded merge hell when multiple developers are working simultaneously and are all adding their changes at the same time. It is essentially a set of rules that developers can follow to stipulate how they interact with a shared codebase. A branching strategy, therefore, is the strategy that software development teams adopt when writing, merging and deploying code when using a version control system.
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