Git is the backbone of modern software development, but most teams use only a fraction of its capabilities. Here are the workflows, conventions, and strategies that consistently lead to clean histories and reliable deployments.
Choosing the Right Branching Strategy
Trunk-Based Development
Works best for teams shipping multiple times per day. Everyone commits to main directly with short-lived feature branches lasting hours, not days.
git checkout -b feat/add-search-filter
# ... make changes ...
git add -A && git commit -m "feat: add search filter component"
git push origin feat/add-search-filterGitHub Flow
Ideal for teams shipping daily or weekly. One main branch, feature branches for all work, pull requests for everything.
Merge vs Rebase
Use merge by default (preserves history, safer for shared branches). Use rebase only for personal branches you haven't pushed yet.
# Rebase your feature branch onto latest main
git checkout feature/search
git fetch origin
git rebase origin/mainCommit Message Conventions
feat(auth): add SSO login with Google
fix(api): handle null response from payment gateway
docs(readme): update deployment instructions
refactor(db): extract query builder into utility
chore(deps): bump next.js to 16.1.3Git Aliases That Save Hours
[alias]
s = status -sb
lg = log --oneline --graph --decorate -20
co = checkout
cb = checkout -b
cm = commit -m
wip = !git add -A && git commit -m "wip: work in progress"
up = !git fetch origin && git rebase origin/main
cleanup = !git branch -vv | grep ': gone]' | awk '{print $1}' | xargs -r git branch -DWrapping Up
The best Git workflow is the one your entire team actually follows. Start simple with GitHub Flow and conventional commits. Add complexity only when you have a real problem that simpler approaches can't solve.