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Amburi Roy
Amburi Roy

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Git Branch Strategy vs. Git Workflow

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Git Branch Strategy

A Git branch strategy, also known as a branching model, is a set of rules and conventions that dictate how branches are organized, created, named, and managed within a Git repository.

Purpose: It defines the structure of branches and their relationships, helping teams manage code development and integration efficiently. The branch strategy provides guidelines on when to create feature branches, how to handle long-lived branches, and how to handle releases and hotfixes.

Examples: Feature branching, Gitflow, GitHub Flow, GitLab Flow, Trunk-Based Development, and others are examples of Git branch strategies.

Focus: Git branch strategies primarily focus on the branching and merging aspects of version control, including the creation of feature branches, release branches, and maintenance branches.

Git Workflow

A Git workflow is a set of defined processes and conventions that a development team follows when using Git for collaborating on and managing code changes. It outlines how developers interact with the version control system throughout the development lifecycle.

Purpose: It addresses not only branching and merging but also the broader development and collaboration practices, including how features are developed, reviewed, tested, and integrated into the codebase.

Examples: Pull Request (PR) Workflow, Feature-Driven Development (FDD), GitOps Workflow, Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) Workflow, and others are examples of Git workflows.

Focus: Git workflows encompass the entire software development lifecycle, including code review processes, issue tracking, testing, and deployment. They may incorporate a specific Git branch strategy as part of the overall process.

Wrap-Up!

Git Branch Strategy is a subset of a Git Workflow.

  • The branch strategy defines how branches are structured and managed, while the Git workflow outlines the broader set of practices and procedures for collaborating on code using Git.

A workflow can incorporate or be tailored to a specific branch strategy, but it also addresses other aspects of software development beyond just branching and merging. The choice of a Git branch strategy and Git workflow depends on the project's requirements, team size, and development practices.

Happy Coding!

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