Branches That Don't Suck #2: Real World Branching Patterns
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Video Description
You know the branching strategies. Now let's talk about surviving Monday morning. This video covers the patterns that actually work in practice: sprint branches, refresh merges, parallel features, hotfix propagation, and matching your strategy to your team.
What you'll learn: • The Sprint Branch Model for Scrum teams • Refresh merges and the merge direction rule • When to refresh your feature branches • Rebase vs Merge - when to use each • Handling parallel features without pain • Hotfix propagation through your branches • Where QA testing fits in • Definition of Done by branch level • Matching strategy to team size and methodology
Key insights: • Changes flow DOWN (refresh), completions flow UP • Rebase only your own unpushed work, merge everything else • The more parallel branches, the more refresh merges you need • This is why limiting WIP matters • Test at the right level - don't wait for main to find integration bugs
This applies whether you're using GitHub, Azure DevOps, GitLab, or any Git-based workflow.
Previous Video: Branching Strategies for Enterprise Teams Next Video: When Branches Are Symptoms ► Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGxFXI4dC2sgmEG8vl1IoOVTj1y8V6Y6E
Refresh merges finally make sense? Smash that like button! Subscribe - next up we cover branching dysfunctions! How often does your team refresh branches? Tell me in the comments!
#Git #GitForTeams #Branching #GitWorkflow #DevOps #Scrum #MergeConflicts #Rebase #GitMerge
0:00 Real World Branching Patterns 0:23 The strategy is the easy part. 0:42 The Sprint Branch Model 1:26 Sprint Branch Model 1:50 Why Sprint Branches Help 2:29 The Merge Direction Rule 3:29 When to Do Refresh Merges 4:06 Rebase vs Merge: When to Use Each 5:11 Never rebase commits that others have pulled. 5:33 The Narrow Doorway Problem 5:54 Parallel Features: The Refresh Dance 6:30 The WIP → Merge Conflict Chain 7:16 Hotfix Propagation 7:45 Where does QA testing fit? 7:53 QA Testing Is Everwhere! 7:57 Don't wait until the last minute! 8:07 Where Is the QA Testing Focus? 9:24 Matching Strategy to Team & Methodology 10:09 Quick Recap 10:39 Thanks for Watching
Video Info
- Duration: 10:43
- Published: January 12, 2026
