As teams grow and projects become more complex, having a structured Git workflow becomes essential. In this article, we'll explore some popular Git workflows that can help your team collaborate more effectively.
New to Git? Check out our Git Basics for Beginners guide before diving into these advanced workflows.
Gitflow Workflow
Gitflow is a branching model that uses multiple branches for development, features, releases, and hotfixes. It was first published by Vincent Driessen and has become one of the most popular workflows for Git.
Key Branches
- main/master: Contains production-ready code
- develop: Contains pre-production code
- feature/*: Used to develop new features
- release/*: Prepare for a new production release
- hotfix/*: Fix critical bugs in production
The Gitflow workflow is ideal for projects with scheduled releases and a development cycle.
Trunk-Based Development
Trunk-based development is a version control management practice where developers merge small, frequent updates to a core "trunk" or main branch. This approach is often used in continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) environments. For teams using CI/CD pipelines, our API can help automate repository access and downloads.
Key Concepts
- All developers work on a single branch (trunk/main)
- Short-lived feature branches that merge back quickly
- Frequent commits and merges
- Heavy reliance on automated testing
Trunk-based development is ideal for teams practicing continuous delivery and wanting to reduce merge conflicts.
Pro Tip:
Combine trunk-based development with Git Hooks automation to enforce code quality standards and automate testing before commits are pushed.
GitHub Flow
GitHub Flow is a lightweight, branch-based workflow that supports teams and projects where deployments are made regularly. It's simpler than Gitflow and focuses on frequent deployments.
The Process
- Create a branch from main
- Add commits
- Open a pull request
- Discuss and review code
- Deploy for testing
- Merge to main
GitHub Flow is ideal for small teams and web projects with continuous delivery.
Choosing the Right Workflow
The best workflow for your team depends on several factors:
- Team size and structure
- Project complexity
- Release frequency
- Deployment environment
Experiment with different workflows and adapt them to your team's needs. The most important thing is that everyone on the team understands and follows the chosen workflow consistently.
Need to examine specific commits?
Our Git Commit Downloader tool makes it easy to extract and review changes from specific commits, which is especially useful when implementing these advanced workflows and conducting code reviews.