The idea around Gitflow is to try to isolate new development from finished work. This is done by using two main branches:
master and develop. The master branch is used to store the finished work and the develop branch is used to store
the new development. When a new feature is ready to be released, a new branch is created from the develop branch and
merged back into the develop branch when it is finished. When the develop branch is ready to be released, it is merged
into the master branch.
When working off the develop branch, it is common to use feature branches. This is where a new branch is created from the
develop branch and merged back into the develop branch when it is finished. This way, you can isolate new development
from finished work.
When working off the master branch, it is common to use release branches. This is where a new branch is created from the
master branch and merged back into the master branch when it is finished. This way, you can isolate new releases from
finished work.
If you need to use a hotfix you will do this off the master branch and then merged back into the master branch when it
is finished. You can also merge the hotfix into the develop branch to ensure that the new development is not affected.
The main advantage of this strategy is that it isolates new development from finished work. This can help to reduce the risk of conflicts and merge issues. The main disadvantage is that it can be complex and difficult to understand. It also requires a lot of discipline to follow the process correctly.
Any code in the master branch is always deployable. This is a key part of the Gitflow strategy.
GitLab Flow
This strategy is similar to Gitflow but it uses environment branches such as master, pre production, production.
Deployment can be done from the master branch to the pre production branch and then to the production branch.
This makes it more simple to understand and follow than Gitflow. It also makes it easier to understand the different environments that are being used. But it isn't very structured and can lead to some messy branches where you need to keep track of the where to base the pull request from.
GitHub Flow
The Github flow method is a simplified version of Gitflow. It is a lightweight, branch-based workflow that supports teams and projects where deployments are made regularly. It is a great strategy for small teams working on small projects.
It has a main branch, usually master, and feature branches. When a new feature is ready to be released, a new branch is
created from the master branch and merged back into the master branch when it is finished. You can then deploy off
master when you are ready. This is why it suits projects where deployments are made regularly and the team is small.
In projects that have larger development teams there can be conflicts with working in this method.