Hand-on Demo – GitFlow for Continuous Delivery

Hand-on Demo – GitFlow for Continuous Delivery

The GitFlow branching model provides a structured approach for managing features, releases, and hotfixes, which makes it particularly useful for teams handling multiple environments (e.g., development, staging, and production).

Here’s a step-by-step demonstration of GitFlow tailored to a Continuous Delivery (CD) pipeline.

GitFlow Branch Types

1. main:

   • The branch for production-ready code.

   • Only updated by merging release or hotfix branches.

2. develop:

   • The integration branch where all feature branches are merged.

   • Represents the latest stable development code.

3. feature/:

   • Temporary branches for developing new features.

   • Based on develop.

4. release/:

   • Temporary branches for preparing a new release.

   • Based on develop and merged into both main and develop.

5. hotfix/:

   • Temporary branches for urgent fixes to production.

   • Based on main and merged into both main and develop.

Scenario: Developing a New Feature and Delivering It Using GitFlow

1. Initial Setup

Clone the repository and set up the default branches:

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git clone https://github.com/your-repo.git
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cd your-repo
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# Ensure main and develop branches exist
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git checkout -b main
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git checkout -b develop

2. Feature Development

Step 1: Create a Feature Branch

A developer starts a feature branch based on develop:

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git checkout develop
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git checkout -b feature/add-login-page

Step 2: Develop and Commit Changes

Work on the feature and commit code incrementally:

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# Example changes
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echo "<h1>Login Page</h1>" > login.html
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git add login.html
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git commit -m "Add basic login page structure"
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echo "Add form validation" >> login.html
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git add login.html
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git commit -m "Implement form validation"

Step 3: Push the Feature Branch for Review

Push the branch to the remote repository and create a pull request:

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git push origin feature/add-login-page

The pull request triggers CI to:

• Run unit tests.

• Check code quality.

Once approved, the branch is merged into develop:

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git checkout develop
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git merge feature/add-login-page
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git push origin develop

3. Release Preparation

Step 1: Create a Release Branch

When develop is ready for a production release:

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git checkout develop
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git checkout -b release/v1.0.0

Step 2: Finalize the Release

• Add release-specific changes (e.g., update version numbers, documentation).

• Commit the changes:

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echo "v1.0.0" > version.txt
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git add version.txt
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git commit -m "Update version to v1.0.0"

Step 3: Push and Test the Release

Push the release branch:

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git push origin release/v1.0.0

Run staging tests or deployment previews in the CI/CD pipeline.

Step 4: Merge into main and develop

After testing is complete:

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# Merge into main
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git checkout main
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git merge release/v1.0.0
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git push origin main
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# Tag the release
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git tag -a v1.0.0 -m "Release v1.0.0"
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git push origin v1.0.0
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# Merge back into develop
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git checkout develop
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git merge release/v1.0.0
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git push origin develop

Step 5: Delete the Release Branch

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git branch -d release/v1.0.0
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git push origin --delete release/v1.0.0

4. Hotfix Workflow

If a production bug is discovered:

1. Create a hotfix branch from main:

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   git checkout main
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   git checkout -b hotfix/fix-login-bug
   

2. Fix the issue, commit, and push:

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   echo "Fix login issue" >> login.html
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   git add login.html
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   git commit -m "Fix login issue in production"
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   git push origin hotfix/fix-login-bug
   

3. Merge the hotfix into both main and develop:

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   git checkout main
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   git merge hotfix/fix-login-bug
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   git push origin main
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   git checkout develop
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   git merge hotfix/fix-login-bug
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   git push origin develop
   

4. Tag and delete the hotfix branch:

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   git tag -a v1.0.1 -m "Hotfix for login issue"
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   git push origin v1.0.1
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   git branch -d hotfix/fix-login-bug
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   git push origin --delete hotfix/fix-login-bug
   

Advantages of GitFlow for Continuous Delivery

1. Structured Workflow: Clear separation of features, releases, and fixes.

2. Parallel Development: Enables multiple teams to work on features simultaneously.

3. Stable main:** Only deployable code is merged into main.

Challenges

• May slow down CD compared to Trunk-Based Development due to longer release cycles.

• Requires discipline to manage multiple branches.