Branch

A branch is a parallel line of development in Git. It allows developers to work on separate features, bug fixes, or experiments without affecting the main codebase.

Branches enable isolation and parallel development, and they can be merged back into the main branch when ready.

Branch Structure

• develop: Represents the main development branch, where new features and bug fixes are merged and tested before they are ready for staging or production. Developers work on their respective feature branches and merge them into develop when they are complete. This branch also known as dirty branch where developers can collaborate for any in progress work.

• staging: Represents the staging environment, where you can test changes before deploying them to production. This branch allows for integration testing and quality assurance.

• release: Represents the preparation of release, where you can choose any tested features that want to be deployed to production, do the versioning or tagging to mark the release version.

• production: Represents the production-ready code that is deployed to your live environment. Typically, this branch contains stable and tested code.

Branch Workflow

• Fork the Repository: Start by forking the original repository to create your own copy on your GitHub account. This creates a separate remote repository under your control.

• Clone the Forked Repository: Clone the forked repository to your local machine using Git. This creates a local copy of the repository that you can work with.

git clone <your_forked_repository_url>

• Add remote for upstream: Add new remote upstream as the original repository

git remote add upstream <original_repository_url>

• Make and Commit Changes: Make the necessary changes to the files in your local repository according to the requirements or issues you're addressing. Once you are done with the changes, commit them to your local develop branch.

git commit -m "[reference] type: changes description" // please see commit convention

• Push Changes to Your Fork: Push the committed changes to your forked repository on GitHub. This updates your remote branch with the latest changes made locally.

git push origin develop

• Submit a Pull Request: On your forked repository's GitHub page, navigate to the branch containing the changes you want to submit. Compare across the fork and then click the Create pull request button to initiate the pull request. Provide a clear and descriptive title and description for your pull request, explaining the changes you have made.

• Pull Request Approval and Merging: If the reviewers are satisfied with your changes, they will approve the pull request. The maintainers of the original repository can then merge your changes into the main branch.

• Sync with Upstream: After your changes are merged, keep your forked repository in sync with the original repository's changes. You can do this by adding the original repository as an upstream remote and regularly pulling the latest changes from it.

git pull --rebase upstream develop