Git Branching Strategy

Why Use a Branching Strategy?

A clear branching strategy enables team collaboration, stable releases, and efficient development workflow.

Popular Branching Strategies

1. Git Flow

# Git Flow Branches
main          → Production-ready code
develop       → Integration branch
feature/*     → New features
release/*     → Release preparation
hotfix/*      → Emergency fixes

2. GitHub Flow

# GitHub Flow (Simpler)
main          → Production-ready code
feature/*     → New features

# Workflow Steps
1. Create a branch from main
2. Make changes and commit
3. Push to GitHub
4. Create Pull Request
5. Review and merge
6. Delete the branch

Branch Naming Conventions

Types of Branches

# Feature branches
feature/user-authentication
feature/payment-integration

# Bug fix branches
bugfix/login-error

# Hotfix branches
hotfix/security-patch

# Release branches
release/v1.0.0

Pull Request Best Practices

PR Checklist

# PR Template
## Description
Brief description of the changes

## Type of Change
- [ ] Bug fix
- [ ] New feature
- [ ] Breaking change

## Testing
- [ ] Unit tests added
- [ ] Manual testing performed

## Checklist
- [ ] Code follows style guidelines
- [ ] Self-review completed
- [ ] Documentation updated

Common Git Commands

# Basic Commands
git init
git status
git add .
git commit -m "Message"
git push origin main
git pull origin main

# Branching
git branch feature-name
git checkout -b feature-name
git branch -d feature-name
git merge feature-name

Resolving Conflicts

# When conflicts occur
git merge feature/branch

# Resolve conflicts in files
# Then mark as resolved
git add resolved-file.cs

# Continue merge
git commit -m "Merge: Resolve conflicts"

# Or abort
git merge --abort