10 Gitlab Branching Strategy Best Practices

Gitlab is a powerful version control system that allows developers to collaborate on projects and manage their codebase. It is important to have a well-defined branching strategy in place to ensure that the codebase is organized and easy to maintain.

In this article, we will discuss 10 best practices for creating a Gitlab branching strategy. We will cover topics such as naming conventions, branching strategies, and merging strategies. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your codebase is well-organized and easy to maintain.

1. Create a branch for each issue

Creating a branch for each issue allows you to keep your codebase organized and makes it easier to track changes. It also helps ensure that any changes made in one branch don’t affect the other branches, which can help prevent conflicts when merging. Additionally, creating separate branches for each issue allows developers to work on multiple issues at once without having to worry about conflicting changes. Finally, it’s much easier to review and test changes when they are isolated in their own branch.

2. Use descriptive names for branches

When you use descriptive names for branches, it makes it easier to identify the purpose of each branch. This helps developers quickly understand what code is in a particular branch and how it relates to other branches. It also allows them to easily switch between branches without having to guess which one contains the code they need.

Descriptive branch names can also help with collaboration. When multiple people are working on the same project, it’s important that everyone knows which branch they should be working on. Descriptive branch names make this process much simpler.

3. Delete old branches

When you create a branch, it takes up space in your repository. Over time, this can lead to an accumulation of branches that are no longer needed or used. This can cause confusion and clutter for developers who need to find the right branch quickly.

By deleting old branches, you ensure that only relevant branches remain in your repository. This makes it easier for developers to find the correct branch when they need to make changes or review code. Additionally, deleting old branches helps keep your repository clean and organized.

4. Merge your branches to master as soon as possible

Merging your branches to master ensures that the code in master is always up-to-date and reflects the latest changes. This makes it easier for developers to work on their own features without worrying about conflicts with other developers’ code. It also helps ensure that any bugs or issues are caught early, before they become a bigger problem.

Additionally, merging your branches to master regularly allows you to keep track of progress and identify areas where improvements can be made. Finally, it’s important to merge your branches to master frequently so that everyone on the team is working from the same version of the codebase.

5. Don’t merge code that doesn’t work

Merging code that doesn’t work can cause a lot of problems, such as introducing bugs and breaking existing features. It also makes it difficult to debug the issue since you don’t know what changes were made in the merge.

To avoid this problem, make sure to thoroughly test any code before merging it into your main branch. This includes running unit tests, integration tests, and manual testing if necessary. Additionally, use feature flags or other techniques to ensure that only tested code is released to production. Following these best practices will help keep your codebase clean and reliable.

6. Keep the number of commits small

When you have a large number of commits, it can be difficult to track changes and identify which commit caused an issue. This makes debugging more time-consuming and complex. Additionally, having too many commits can make the codebase harder to maintain as there are more files to keep track of.

To avoid this problem, try to limit your commits to only those that are necessary. If possible, combine multiple related changes into one commit. This will help keep your Gitlab branching strategy organized and efficient.

7. Don’t commit directly to master

Committing directly to master can lead to a lot of problems, such as:

– Unstable code in production
– Difficulty tracking changes and debugging issues
– Increased risk of conflicts when merging branches

Instead, it’s best practice to create feature branches for each new feature or bug fix. This allows developers to work on their own branch without affecting the main codebase. Once the feature is complete, it can be merged into the master branch with minimal risk of conflict.

8. Review and test your code before merging it into master

When you merge code into master, it is immediately available to all users of the system. If there are any bugs or issues with the code, they will be exposed to everyone who uses the system. This can lead to a lot of frustration and wasted time trying to fix the issue.

By reviewing and testing your code before merging it into master, you can ensure that any potential problems are caught early on and fixed before they become an issue for other users. Additionally, this helps maintain the integrity of the codebase by ensuring only quality code is merged into master.

9. Work on long-running features in feature branches

Feature branches allow developers to work on a feature without affecting the main branch. This allows for more flexibility and experimentation, as well as easier debugging and testing.

Feature branches also make it easy to keep track of changes made to the codebase. Developers can easily see which commits are related to a particular feature, making it easier to review and merge them into the main branch when they’re ready.

Finally, feature branches help ensure that only tested and approved features get merged into the main branch. This helps reduce the risk of introducing bugs or other issues into the production environment.

10. Merge conflicts should be resolved locally

When a merge conflict occurs, it means that two different versions of the same file have been modified and need to be reconciled. If this is done on the server side, then there’s no way for developers to review the changes before they are committed. This can lead to mistakes being made or even worse, malicious code being introduced into the system.

By resolving conflicts locally, developers can review the changes in their own environment and make sure everything looks correct before committing them. This helps ensure that only valid changes are merged into the main branch and keeps your codebase secure.