Github Branching Model

[Milind220]

This is a great Github Branching model for this repository to follow.

https://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/

[Milind220]

Summary of branching model

main branch
This branch is always stable.
-> No direct commits to this branch. The only commits that are made here are from merging in a release or hotfix branch.
-> Any commits on this branch are by definition a new release to be published on PyPi.
-> Infinite lifetime.

dev branch
This branch is where most new features are added.
-> Direct commits only from admins (to keep it clean for open-source contributions). PR's welcome from anyone.
-> infinite lifetime.

'feature' branch
A special branch created for a big new feature.
-> branched off from 'dev', and merged back into dev when the feature is complete
-> lives as long as feature is being developed

release branch
A special branch created from dev in preparation for a new release.
-> This is where final testing and bugfixes take place before being merged into main and also dev.
-> lives as long as release is being fine tuned.

hotfix branch
A special branch to fix bugs that are discovered in released code.
-> branched from main, bugs are fixed, then merged back into main as a new release, and into dev as well.

[Milind220]

After using this for a bit now, I'm experimenting with the following minor edit to this model:

• for a new release, merge release branch into main
• instead of now merging release also into dev, which causes dev to fall one commit behind main, we could merge main into dev, and then dev and main have the same number of commits. This is essentially the same thing as merging release into dev.

You can take a look at the Stack Overflow question that prompted me to make this change here

[Samxx97]

I checked the stack overflow question and this definitely makes more sense , kudos!