Version Control

Version control is essential for managing code changes, collaborating with teams, and maintaining project history.

Git Fundamentals

Core Concepts

• Commits: Snapshots of your code
• Branches: Parallel development lines
• Merges: Combining changes
• Remote repositories: Shared code storage

Branching Strategies

Git Flow

main (production)
├── develop (integration)
    ├── feature/user-authentication
    ├── feature/payment-integration
    └── hotfix/security-patch

GitHub Flow

• Simple, trunk-based development
• Feature branches off main
• Pull requests for review
• Deploy from main

Trunk-Based Development

• Short-lived feature branches
• Continuous integration
• Feature flags for incomplete work

Best Practices

Commit Messages

feat: add user authentication
fix: resolve memory leak in image processing
docs: update API documentation
refactor: simplify payment validation logic

Branching Conventions

feature/feature-name
bugfix/bug-description
hotfix/critical-fix
release/v1.2.0

Tools & Workflows

• Git hooks for automation
• Rebase vs merge strategies
• Cherry-picking commits
• Stashing work in progress