Trunk-based Development for CI/CD
Florian Tichawa13.05.2024
An Average Git Repository:
- Where is the main branch?
- What are the other branches?
- Which builds are runnable?
- Where are my release builds?
- Where should I branch off?
An Attempt to Fix This: GitFlow
- Main "release" branch with tags for every version
- Main "development" branch
- Feature branches from development for every new feature
- Hotfix branches from release for every urgent bugfix
Does It Work?
Advantages of GitFlow:
- Where is the main branch?
- Which builds are runnable?
- Where are my release builds?
- Where should I branch off?
- Clearly defined role for every branch
- Every commit in release and development
- Every commit in release is a release build
- development (For features) or release (For hotfixes)
Issues of GitFlow:
- Too many active branches
- Two main branches
- Big features might require complicated merges
The solution: Less and shorter branches
Trunk-based Development
- Main branch with runnable builds
- Short feature branches (1-2 commits) for every new feature
- Stale release branches for every release build
-> Bonus effect: We have a single, runnable branch containing all builds, which is perfect for CI/CD!
Trunk-based Development
