🌿 Git Branching Strategy Explained

In real-world projects, we often need to develop new features without affecting the existing stable code. This is where branching strategy plays a vital role in organizing, developing, testing, and delivering code efficiently.

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🧠 Why Use Branching?

Let’s say you have a calculator app with basic functionality like addition and subtraction. Now, you want to add an advanced feature like percentage calculation. You don’t want this new change to break or interfere with the existing functionality. Here's how Git branches help manage this.

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🌳 Branch Types

1. Main Branch (main or master)

• Always contains production-ready code.

• Must be kept up to date.

• Only stable, tested features should be merged here.

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2. Feature Branch

• Created for adding new features (e.g., feature/percentage-function).

• Branches off from main and merges back after development and testing.

• Keeps feature development isolated.

Example:
In Uber, the base product was just for cab rides.
When Uber wanted to add bike rides, they created a feature/uber-bikes branch.
For intercity rides, they created another branch feature/uber-intercity.

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3. Release Branch

• Used for final testing before delivering to customers.

• Created from a feature branch or main.

• Allows parallel development to continue while stabilizing a release.

• Merges into both main and develop (if using Git Flow model).

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4. Hotfix Branch

• Created when there’s a critical bug in production.

• Branches from main, fixed quickly, and then merged into both main and release.

• Ensures immediate fixes don’t interrupt ongoing development.

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🔄 Branching Workflow Summary

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✅ Best Practices

• Always test features in the feature branch before merging.

• Keep main clean, stable, and deployable at all times.

• Use meaningful branch names (e.g., feature/percentage-calc).

• Merge hotfixes into both main and release to maintain consistency.