Git-Branching-Strategy.md

KentProjects

Git Branching Strategy

Feature Branches

• May branch off from: develop
• Must merge back into: develop
• Branch naming convention: anything except: master, develop, release/* or hotfix/*

--no-ff flag creates new commit even if merge can use fast-forward. Avoids losing historical info of branch.

Creating feature branch 
$ git checkout -b feature/coolNewApiFeature develop

Incorperate finished featured on develop
$ git checkout develop
$ git merge --no-ff feature/coolNewApiFeature
$ git branch -d feature/coolNewApiFeature
$ git push origin develop

Release branches

• May branch off from: develop
• Must merge back into: develop and master
• Branch naming convention: release/*

Prep for release. Minor bug fixes & prep meta-data (version no. increment, build dates, configuration files, etc.).

To keep the changes made in the release branch, we need to merge those back into develop, though.

Creating a release branch
$ git checkout -b release/1.2 develop
$ { any relevant commands to build the release }

Finishing a release branch
$ git checkout master
$ git merge --no-ff release/0.2
$ git tag -a 0.2
$ git checkout develop
$ git merge --no-ff release/0.2
$ git branch -d release/0.2

Hotfix branches

May branch off from: master Must merge back into: master and develop Branch naming convention: hotfix/*

For resolving critical bugs just after a release.

Creating hotfix branch
$ git checkout -b hotfix/0.2.1 master
$ git commit -m "Fixed severe production problem"
$ { any relevant commands required to rebuild the release }

Finishing a hotfix branch
$ git checkout master
$ git merge --no-ff hotfix/0.2.1
$ git tag -a 0.2.1
$ git checkout develop
$ git merge --no-ff hotfix/0.2.1
$ git branch -d hotfix/0.2.1

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For more information see Git Flow.