Git Flow

Preamble

We have decided to use git flow in order to simplify, automate and standardize our usage of git, allowing us to focus on our implementation while keeping our version controlling to a high standard.

Setup

To get started, go to the main directory and type:

git flow init

You will then be guided through the process:

Which branch should be used for bringing forth production releases?
   - main
Branch name for production releases: [main] 

Press enter to continue to the development branch:

Branch name for "next release" development: [develop]

At this stage, you need to add dev:

Branch name for "next release" development: [develop] dev

For the following, just leave all the defaults by hitting enter:

Feature branches? [feature/] 
Bugfix branches? [bugfix/] 
Release branches? [release/] 
Hotfix branches? [hotfix/] 
Support branches? [support/] 
Version tag prefix? [] 

At this stage, your path will be displayed and you are all set!

Usage

You can now create your branch:

git flow feature start <feature branch name>
git flow feature publish <feature branch name>

#Example
git flow feature start hello-world # will create feature/hello-world
git flow feature publish hello-world # will publish feature/hello-world to the online repository

You can now code and commit on your branch as usual:

git add .
git commit -m "feat: this is a commit message"

Note: This can also be done through the VSCode Extension.

The process when pushing the feature up to the GitHub Repository:

# checkout the dev branch
git checkout dev

# pull any changes from the online repo
git pull

# checkout the feature branch
git checkout feature/hello-world

# rebase the feature branch on the dev branch
git rebase dev

Note: This allows for the resolution of merge conflicts locally.

Once this process has been completed, the online repository can be updated with the local changes:

git push -f