When managing a source code repository, different branching strategies affect the software development and release processes that development teams use. Examples of common branching strategies include Trunk, Gitflow, and GitHub Flow. These strategies use different branches, and the activities performed in each environment are different. Organizations that are implementing DevOps processes would benefit from a visual guide to help them understand the differences between these branching strategies. Using this visual in your organization helps development teams align their work and follow organizational standards. This pattern provides this visual and describes the process of implementing a Gitflow branching strategy in your organization.

This pattern is part of a documentation series about choosing and implementing DevOps branching strategies for organizations with multiple AWS accounts. This series is designed to help you apply the correct strategy and best practices from the outset, to streamline your experience in the cloud. Gitflow is just one possible branching strategy that your organization can use. This documentation series also covers Trunk and GitHub Flow branching models. If you haven't done so already, we recommend that you review Choosing a Git branching strategy for multi-account DevOps environments prior to implementing the guidance in this pattern. Please use due diligence to choose the right branching strategy for your organization.