Understanding branching strategies

The majority of contemporary version control systems offer support for branches, which are autonomous streams of work that originate from a core code base. The nomenclature for the primary branch in a version control system may vary, with possible designations including master, mainline, default, and trunk, depending on the specific system in use. Developers can generate branches derived from the source, therefore enabling them to function autonomously in conjunction with it.

The practice of branching facilitates seamless collaboration across teams of developers within a unified code repository. When a software developer starts creating a branch inside a version control system, a duplicate of the code base is generated, capturing the state of the code at that specific moment in time. Modifications made to the branch do not have an impact on the other developers within the team, but this pattern is undoubtedly advantageous. However, it is not strictly...