Git and GitHub Best Practices: Branching Strategies and Workflows

Introduction

[Explain version control as foundation for collaboration, CI/CD, and release management; introduce common workflow patterns.]

Prerequisites

Git installed locally
GitHub account
Basic Git commands familiarity

Branching Strategies Comparison

Strategy	Use Case	Complexity
Trunk-Based	High-frequency CI/CD	Low
GitFlow	Structured release cycles	High
GitHub Flow	Continuous deployment	Medium
Feature Branch	Isolated development	Low

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Choose Branching Model

GitHub Flow (Recommended for Web Apps)

main branch always deployable
Feature branches for changes
Pull requests for review
Merge to main triggers deployment

Step 2: Feature Branch Workflow

# Create feature branch
git checkout -b feature/add-user-profile

# Make changes and commit
git add .
git commit -m "feat: add user profile page"

# Push to remote
git push -u origin feature/add-user-profile

Step 3: Pull Request Best Practices

PR Template Example:

## Description
[Summary of changes]

## Type of Change
- [ ] Bug fix
- [ ] New feature
- [ ] Breaking change

## Checklist
- [ ] Tests added/updated
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] No merge conflicts

Step 4: Commit Message Conventions

Conventional Commits:

feat: add email notification service
fix: resolve null reference in auth middleware
docs: update API documentation
refactor: simplify user repository
test: add integration tests for orders

Step 5: Code Review Process

Automated checks (CI build, lint, tests)
Peer review (at least 1 approval)
Resolve comments
Merge strategy (squash, merge, rebase)

Step 6: Merge Strategies

Squash Merge (Clean History):

git merge --squash feature/add-user-profile
git commit -m "feat: add user profile page"

Rebase (Linear History):

git checkout feature/add-user-profile
git rebase main
git checkout main
git merge feature/add-user-profile

Step 7: Protected Branches

GitHub Settings:

Require pull request reviews (1-2 approvers)
Require status checks to pass
Enforce linear history
Restrict force pushes

Step 8: Git Hooks for Quality

Pre-commit Hook (.git/hooks/pre-commit):

#!/bin/sh
npm run lint
npm test

Advanced Git Techniques

Interactive Rebase

git rebase -i HEAD~3
# Edit, squash, reorder commits

Cherry-Pick Commits

git cherry-pick abc123def

Stash Changes

git stash save "WIP: refactoring"
git stash pop

GitHub Actions Integration

name: PR Validation
on: pull_request
jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm test

Common Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Long-lived feature branches (merge frequently)
Force push to shared branches
Committing secrets or credentials
Skipping code reviews
Ambiguous commit messages

Troubleshooting

Issue: Merge conflicts
Solution: Rebase on target branch frequently; resolve conflicts locally

Issue: Accidental commit to main
Solution: Reset to previous commit; force push (if no collaborators affected)

Issue: Large binary files in repo
Solution: Use Git LFS; clean history with git-filter-repo

Best Practices Summary

Keep commits atomic and focused
Write descriptive commit messages
Review your own PR before requesting reviews
Automate checks with CI/CD
Delete merged branches promptly

Key Takeaways

Consistent branching strategy improves collaboration.
Pull requests enable code quality gates.
Conventional commits enhance changelog generation.
Protected branches prevent accidental mistakes.

Next Steps

Implement Git hooks for automated quality checks
Set up branch protection rules
Create PR templates for your team

Additional Resources

Which workflow will standardize your team's collaboration?