What is git flow ?

Git flow is a branching model for Git that provides a structured approach to managing Git branches and releases. It was created by Vincent Driessen and is widely used in software development teams to streamline development and release processes.

The Git flow model is based on two main long-lived branches: master and develop. The master branch contains the production-ready code, while the develop branch is the main branch where developers work and merge their feature branches.

Git flow also defines four types of branches:

1. Feature branches: created by developers to work on new features or changes to the code. These branches are usually short-lived and are merged into the develop branch when the feature is complete.

2. Release branches: created when the develop branch is ready for a new release. Release branches are used to fix any bugs that are discovered during the testing phase and prepare the code for deployment.

3. Hotfix branches: created when a critical bug is discovered in the production code. Hotfix branches are used to fix the bug quickly and merge the changes back into both master and develop branches.

4. Support branches: created to maintain old releases while continuing development on the develop branch.

   

Why your team needs git flow ?

A team should consider using Git flow because it provides a structured approach to managing Git branches and releases. Git flow is a branching model that provides a set of guidelines and conventions that can help teams manage their code changes and releases more effectively. Here are some reasons why a team should consider using Git flow:

1. Better organization of code changes: Git flow provides a clear structure for managing code changes by defining different types of branches for different purposes. For example, feature branches are used for developing new features or changes to the code, while release branches are used for preparing the code for deployment. This can help teams keep track of changes and avoid conflicts between different features or changes.

2. Easier tracking of changes and releases: Git flow makes it easy to track changes and releases by providing a clear history of the changes made to each branch. This can help teams identify the source of bugs or issues and quickly fix them.

3. Improved collaboration among developers: Git flow encourages collaboration among developers by providing a clear structure for managing code changes and releases. By following a consistent set of guidelines, developers can work together more effectively and avoid conflicts or misunderstandings.

4. Minimizing conflicts and errors: Git flow can help teams minimize conflicts and errors by providing a clear structure for managing code changes and releases. By following a set of conventions and guidelines, teams can reduce the likelihood of conflicts and errors caused by multiple developers working on the same code.

5. Streamlining development and release processes: Git flow provides a set of guidelines and conventions that can help teams streamline their development and release processes. By following a consistent set of practices, teams can save time and effort and reduce the risk of errors or issues.

Setting up git flow

The git-flow toolset is an actual command line tool that has an installation process. The installation process for git-flow is straightforward. Packages for git-flow are available on multiple operating systems. On OSX systems, you can execute brew install git-flow. On windows you will need to download and install git-flow. After installing git-flow you can use it in your project by executing git flow init. Git-flow is a wrapper around Git. The git flow init command is an extension of the default git init command and doesn't change anything in your repository other than creating branches for you.

Here are some of the most commonly used Git flow commands:

1. git flow init: initializes a Git repository with the Git flow structure.

2. git flow feature start <feature_name>: creates a new feature branch from the develop branch.

3. git flow feature finish <feature_name>: merges the completed feature branch back into the develop branch.

4. git flow release start <release_version>: creates a new release branch from the develop branch.

5. git flow release finish <release_version>: merges the completed release branch back into both master and develop branches.

6. git flow hotfix start <hotfix_name>: creates a new hotfix branch from the master branch.

7. git flow hotfix finish <hotfix_name>: merges the completed hotfix branch back into both master and develop branches.

In summary, using Git flow can provide many benefits for teams working on software development projects, including better organization of code changes, easier tracking of changes and releases, improved collaboration among developers, minimizing conflicts and errors, and streamlining development and release processes.

Resources

Here are some resources for further reading on Git flow:

1. The official Git flow website: nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-m.. This is the original blog post by Vincent Driessen that introduced the Git flow branching model. It provides a detailed explanation of the Git flow workflow and guidelines.

2. Atlassian Gitflow Tutorial: atlassian.com/git/tutorials/comparing-workf.. This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide to using Git flow, including how to create feature, release, and hotfix branches, and how to merge them back into the main development branch.

3. GitFlow Cheat Sheet: danielkummer.github.io/git-flow-cheatsheet This cheat sheet provides a quick reference guide to the Git flow commands and workflows, making it easy to follow the Git flow process.

4. GitLab Flow: docs.gitlab.com/ee/topics/gitlab_flow.html GitLab Flow is a variant of Git flow that is optimized for GitLab's software development platform. It provides a set of guidelines and practices that are tailored to GitLab's features and capabilities.

5. GitHub Flow: guides.github.com/introduction/flow GitHub Flow is a lightweight, branch-based workflow that is optimized for GitHub's software development platform. It provides a simple, flexible approach to managing code changes and releases.