Git Branching Strategies for Your Team

Already, we can extinguish the torch of one of our brave contestants. Trunk-Based Development didn’t get with the Flow. It’s very, very similar to GitHub Flow. The difference between GitHub Flow and Trunk-Based Development can be seen comparing the two images below:

Down to three – GitHub, GitLab, and OneFlow. The best version control branching strategy depends on the type of project and the size, structure, experience of your team, as noted by Mike Kaufmann.

However, when first starting out, it’s best to stay simple and keep it simple until the project reaches a point where additional complexity is needed. For this reason, the GitHub Flow (or Trunk-Based Development) is the best strategy for the early stages of most projects. It’s ideal for solo developers and small teams working on software projects requiring only a single version of a release to be maintained. In such cases, they may be able to stay with the GitHub Flow for the life of their project.

Projects requiring Continuous Releases or supporting more than one environment should eventually transition to the GitLab Flow. Continuous Releases apply to SaaS type projects. Multiple environments often come into play with mobile apps – which must be approved by an app store before being made publicly available. In such cases, you don’t have control over the exact timing of production releases.

OneFlow has the same limitations as Git Flow except it maintains a single long-lived branch and makes for a project history that is far cleaner and easier to read. Some developers like its use of squashing and rebasing, and others don’t. OneFlow provides more flexibility for handling team decisions inferring extra care when overseeing many junior developers. That OneFlow can do everything that GitFlow does, despite the controversies over its many options, makes it worthy of consideration.