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Branch Management: Organizing Your Work

Good branch management is good project organization. Understanding how to manage branches is understanding how to organize work.

🎯 The Big Picture​

Branches are how you organize work. Features, fixes, experiments - each gets its own branch. Managing branches well makes collaboration easier.

Think of it like this: Branches are workspaces. Good branch management is keeping workspaces organized.

Branch Naming Conventions​

Common Conventions​

# Feature branches
feature/user-authentication
feature/payment-integration

# Bug fix branches
fix/memory-leak
fix/login-bug

# Hotfix branches
hotfix/security-patch
hotfix/critical-bug

# Release branches
release/v1.2.0
release/v2.0.0

# Experiment branches
experiment/new-approach
experiment/performance-test

Naming Best Practices​

  • Be descriptive: feature/auth not feature/new
  • Use prefixes: feature/, fix/, hotfix/
  • Use hyphens: feature/user-auth not feature/user_auth
  • Keep it short: But descriptive enough

Creating Branches​

Create and Switch​

# Create and switch to new branch
git checkout -b feature/new-feature

# Or use newer command
git switch -c feature/new-feature

Create from Specific Commit​

# Create branch from commit
git checkout -b feature/branch abc1234

# Create branch from tag
git checkout -b release/v1.2.0 v1.2.0

Create from Remote Branch​

# Create local branch tracking remote
git checkout -b feature/branch origin/feature/branch

# Or just checkout (Git creates local branch)
git checkout feature/branch

Listing Branches​

List Local Branches​

# List all local branches
git branch

# List with last commit
git branch -v

# List merged branches
git branch --merged

# List unmerged branches
git branch --no-merged

List Remote Branches​

# List remote branches
git branch -r

# List all branches (local and remote)
git branch -a

Switching Branches​

Switch to Branch​

# Switch to existing branch
git checkout branch-name

# Or use newer command
git switch branch-name

Switch and Create​

# Switch and create if doesn't exist
git checkout -b new-branch
git switch -c new-branch

Deleting Branches​

Delete Local Branch​

# Delete merged branch
git branch -d feature/branch

# Force delete (even if not merged)
git branch -D feature/branch

Delete Remote Branch​

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature/branch

# Or
git push origin :feature/branch

Clean Up Merged Branches​

# Delete all merged branches except main
git branch --merged | grep -v "\*\|main" | xargs -n 1 git branch -d

Branch Tracking​

Set Upstream Branch​

# Push and set upstream
git push -u origin feature/branch

# Now you can just:
git push
git pull

Change Upstream Branch​

# Set upstream manually
git branch --set-upstream-to=origin/feature/branch feature/branch

Branch Workflows​

Feature Branch Workflow​

# Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/auth

# Develop feature
git add .
git commit -m "Add authentication"

# Push to remote
git push -u origin feature/auth

# Create PR, merge to main
# Then delete branch
git branch -d feature/auth
git push origin --delete feature/auth

Hotfix Workflow​

# Create hotfix from main
git checkout -b hotfix/security-patch main

# Fix the issue
git commit -m "Fix security vulnerability"

# Merge to main and develop
git checkout main
git merge hotfix/security-patch
git checkout develop
git merge hotfix/security-patch

# Delete hotfix branch
git branch -d hotfix/security-patch

Branch Protection​

Protect Main Branch​

On GitHub/GitLab:

  • Require pull requests
  • Require reviews
  • Require status checks
  • Prevent force push

Local Protection​

# Create alias to prevent accidental commits to main
git config --global alias.main-protect '!git branch --show-current | grep -q "^main$" && echo "Protected branch!" || git commit'

My Take: Branch Management Is Organization​

I used to work on main. I'd be scared to create branches. I'd avoid them.

Then I learned: Branches are organization. Good branch management is good project management.

Now I:

  • Create branches for everything
  • Use naming conventions
  • Clean up merged branches
  • Protect main branch

Branch management is project organization. Do it well.

Memory Tip: The Workspace Analogy​

Think of branches like workspaces:

  • Main branch: Production workspace (clean, organized)
  • Feature branches: Project workspaces (temporary, focused)
  • Branch management: Keeping workspaces organized
  • Deleting branches: Cleaning up finished workspaces

Once you see it that way, branch management makes sense.

Common Mistakes​

Mistake 1: Not Using Naming Conventions​

# Don't do this
git checkout -b branch1
git checkout -b test
git checkout -b new

Fix: Use descriptive names with prefixes.

Mistake 2: Not Cleaning Up​

# Don't do this
# Leave 50 merged branches around

Fix: Delete merged branches regularly.

Mistake 3: Working on Main​

# Don't do this
git checkout main
# Make changes directly on main

Fix: Always create feature branches.

Key Takeaways​

  1. Use naming conventions - Makes branches easy to understand
  2. Create branches for features - Keep work organized
  3. Clean up merged branches - Don't leave clutter
  4. Protect main branch - Prevent accidental commits
  5. Track remote branches - Set upstream for easy push/pull

What's Next?​

Now that you can manage branches, you've completed Branching & Merging. Next: Working with Remotes.

Remember: Branch management is project organization. Do it well, and collaboration becomes easier.