Git Branching Startegy

Git branching strategy is a crucial aspect of version control workflows, particularly in

collaborative software development environments. Below, I'll explain a branching
strategy with the branches you mentioned and illustrate it with a diagram.

Branches:

1. master: Represents the stable, production-ready codebase.

2. dev: Serves as the integration branch for ongoing development work.
3. qa: Used for testing and quality assurance before changes are deployed to
production.
4. ppd (Pre-Production Deployment): A staging area for pre-production testing.
5. prod: Represents the live production environment.
6. dr (Disaster Recovery): A branch for disaster recovery purposes, mirroring
prod.
7. feature: Branches for developing new features.
8. bug-fix: Branches for fixing bugs found in dev, qa, ppd, or prod.
9. hotfix: Branches for critical fixes needed in prod or ppd.

Branch Creation and Merging Strategy:

1. master Branch:

o The master branch typically serves as the main branch of the project,
representing the stable and production-ready code.
o All other branches are created from master initially.

2. dev Branch:

o Created from master.

o Integrates ongoing feature development work.
o Developers merge their feature branches into dev for integration and
testing.
3. qa Branch:

o Created from dev.

o Used for comprehensive testing before changes are promoted to
production.
o Merges from dev after features are tested and stabilized.

4. ppd Branch:

o Created from qa.

o Acts as a staging environment for pre-production testing.
o Merges from qa once testing is successful.

5. prod Branch:

o Created from qa.

o Represents the live production environment.
o Changes are only merged into prod after thorough testing in qa and
ppd.

6. dr Branch:

o Created from prod.

o Mirrors the prod branch to provide a backup in case of disaster.
o Usually not directly interacted with during regular development.

7. feature Branch:

o Created from dev.

o Individual branches for developing new features.
o Merged back into dev after completion and testing.

8. bug-fix Branch:

o Created from dev, qa, ppd, or prod depending on where the bug is
found.
o Used for fixing bugs.
o Merged back into the respective branch it was created from.

9. hotfix Branch:

o Created from prod or ppd in case of critical issues.

o Used for urgent fixes that need to be deployed immediately to
production.
 o Merged back into prod and ppd once fixed.

Diagrammatic Representation:

----> feature
/
master -- dev -- qa -- ppd -- prod -- dr
\ | |
----> bug-fix hotfix

This diagram illustrates the flow of branches in the Git repository, showing how
branches are created from one another and merged back into their respective parent
branches as part of the development workflow.