A Walk in the Version Control Part 3 — Git Workflows

🔄 What is a Git Workflow?

Git workflow is a system which enables the developers to effortlessly collaborate and make changes in a codebase using Git.It ensures unity in the development practices of the team with a consistent framework to go on. The workflows depend on their team size, project complexity, deploy strategies, etc. ​DEV Community + 1 Atlassian + 1

🌿 Common Git Workflows

1. Centralized Workflow

This is the simplest workflow and is good enough for smaller teams or very few developers. Changes are, by default, committed directly to the surrounding branch. ​AI DevSecOps Platform

Pros: Simple to grasp and apply. ​

Negatives: No way to separate affecting features or fixes can cause conflicts. ​

2. Feature Branch Workflow

Every new feature or bug fix will require their own branches away from the main codebase. After finishing, you pull in the branch into the main one. ​

Pros: Helpful for structured development and simple collaboration. ​

Cons: Understanding of branching and merging is needed. ​

3. Gitflow Workflow

This is a structured workflow involving several branches for feature, release and hotfix. Two main branches that tell you the state of the code — main (production-ready code) and develop (integration). Development branches branch from develop and merge back to it. Release branches are created from develop and merged into both main and develop when completed. Hotfix branches are for critical issues and will branch off from main to be merged back in (as well as any further development). Atlassian + 1 Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre + 1

Pros: Great for projects that have planned releases & maintenance. ​Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cons: It can be complex and not suit some teams. ​

4. GitHub Flow

While a simplified workflow for continuous deployment-dev environments. They create feature branches based on main, make their changes, and create pull requests for review. Changes are merged into main and deployed after approval. ​

Pros: More streamlined and encourages more frequent deployments. ​

Pros: Calendar tools help keep track of tasks. May not offer structure needed for larger projects ​

🛠️ Adopting a Git Workflow

• Select A Workflow: Choose a workflow that suits the scale of your team and project as well as your desired deployment strategy. ​

• Set Up Branch Naming Convention: Name branches meaningfully and consistently (ex. feature/login-page, hotfix/payment-bug)​

• Branching and Pull Requests: Develop on branches and create pull requests for code review and discussion before merging changes. ​

• Configuring Automated Testing And Deployment: Use CI/CD tools to automate testing and deployment. ​

• Write Down the Workflow: Make sure everyone on the team is aware of and adheres to the selected workflow by documenting processes, procedures, and best practices.