Adapting Git Flow for Complex Features
In the fast-paced world of software development, managing feature development—especially those that are dynamic and research-oriented—presents unique challenges. Traditional Git flow practices, such as squashing commits into a single commit, while beneficial for version control and release management, can lead to the loss of valuable history and context. This article explores an adapted Git flow strategy designed to accommodate dynamic features where time estimation becomes complex, ensuring continuity and clarity in asynchronous development environments. Like a cat examining its landscape, we should plan out our attack (development) in order to prevent chaos and achieve our target goal: a succesful kill (delivering product).
Understanding the Challenge
Context Loss in Squashing: Squashing commits is a widely adopted practice in software development, particularly when using Git as a version control system. This process involves combining multiple commits into a single commit before merging a feature branch into the main or development branch. The primary benefits of squashing commits include achieving a cleaner version control history and simplifying release management. However, the practice of squashing commits presents challenges, especially when dealing with dynamic features that are inherently unpredictable and involve extensive research and development.
The Issue with Dynamic Features: Longer-running, research-oriented Pull Requests (PRs) can significantly complicate time estimations, as they often involve trial and error, exploration, and strategic pivots. In such cases, squashing commits can lead to the loss of crucial context and history, making it difficult for team members to understand the rationale behind certain decisions or changes.
The Dynamic Git Flow Strategy
Daily Routine Adjustments: The unpredictable nature of dynamic features necessitates adjustments in developers' daily routines. Given the complexity and evolving requirements of such tasks, developers must remain agile, ready to pivot or explore different approaches as new information or challenges emerge.
Strategic Squash and Commit: To preserve the context and history of each strategic attempt, developers should adopt a nuanced approach to committing changes. This involves making incremental commits that capture significant attempts, discoveries, or changes in direction, and then squashing these related incremental commits into a single commit once a logical segment of work is complete.
Block Squashing: Upon completing a feature or a significant part of it, the next step involves combining all strategic squashed commits related to the feature into a single, comprehensive commit. This final squash serves to streamline the commit history, making it easier to integrate into the main project while still retaining the essence and narrative of the feature's development journey.
Regular Rebasing: Regular rebasing is crucial in this dynamic Git flow strategy. By frequently rebasing the feature branch onto the destination branch (whether it's dev, main, or another branch), developers can ensure that their work remains compatible with the project's latest developments.
Implementing the Strategy
Practical Tips: Use the git rebase -i HEAD~N command for strategic squashing and git rebase origin/main for regular rebasing. Regular fetching with git fetch ensures awareness of the latest changes before rebasing.
Collaboration and Communication: Discuss the dynamic Git flow strategy in team meetings and create documentation outlining the strategy, including step-by-step instructions and examples of Git commands. Encourage team members to share their experiences and suggestions for improving the strategy.
Conclusion
Adopting amorphous practices like the dynamic Git flow strategy is essential for software contractors aiming to rapidly provide value in the competitive software development industry. This approach allows for flexibility in handling complex, research-oriented features while ensuring that the context and rationale behind each development step are preserved and communicated effectively. By embracing this nuanced approach to version control and fostering strong team communication, software contractors can efficiently manage project complexities, maintain high-quality documentation of their development process, and swiftly deliver substantial value to their clients. Although not ideal if acronymized, contractors coding as cats is a good motto to follow in order to achieve success and be an effective team player.
