Elizabeth Mosley

Version control is essential, but the branching strategy you choose significantly impacts your development workflow. Different approaches suit different team sizes and project types.

Feature Branch Workflow

The most common approach for teams of any size. Every new feature gets its own branch:

git checkout -b feature/user-authentication
# Make changes
git add .
git commit -m "Add user login functionality"
git push origin feature/user-authentication

Create a pull request for review before merging to main.

Git Flow

A more structured approach with multiple long-lived branches:

• main: Production-ready code
• develop: Integration branch for features
• feature/*: Individual features
• release/*: Release preparation
• hotfix/*: Emergency production fixes

Git Flow works well for projects with scheduled releases and multiple developers.

GitHub Flow

Simpler than Git Flow, with only feature branches and main:

1. Create feature branch from main
2. Add commits
3. Open pull request
4. Discuss and review
5. Deploy and test
6. Merge to main

This approach suits continuous deployment environments.

Commit Message Standards

Good commit messages are documentation. Follow this structure:

feat: add user profile page

- Create ProfileComponent
- Add profile route
- Implement avatar upload

Use conventional commits prefixes: feat, fix, docs, style, refactor, test, chore.

Handling Conflicts

Conflicts are inevitable. Resolve them methodically:

git fetch origin
git merge origin/main
# Resolve conflicts in editor
git add .
git commit

Solo Developer Tips

Even working alone, use branches. Your future self will thank you when you need to:

• Experiment without breaking working code
• Context-switch between features
• Maintain a clean main branch for deployment

The right Git workflow reduces stress and enables confident, collaborative development.

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