<h2>Choosing the Right Strategy</h2><p>There's no single "correct" branching strategy. The right choice depends on your <strong>team size</strong>, <strong>release cadence</strong>, and <strong>deployment process</strong>.</p><h3>Trunk-Based Development</h3><p>Everyone commits to <code>main</code> with short-lived feature branches (< 1 day):</p><ul><li><strong>Pros:</strong> Fast integration, fewer merge conflicts, encourages small changes</li><li><strong>Cons:</strong> Requires strong CI/CD, feature flags for incomplete work</li><li><strong>Best for:</strong> Teams with mature testing and continuous deployment</li></ul><h3>GitHub Flow</h3><p>A simplified workflow:</p><ol><li>Create a branch from <code>main</code></li><li>Make changes and open a pull request</li><li>Review, discuss, and test</li><li>Merge to <code>main</code> and deploy</li></ol><h3>Git Flow</h3><p>A more structured approach with <code>develop</code>, <code>release</code>, and <code>hotfix</code> branches:</p><blockquote><p>Git Flow adds overhead. Only use it if you need to maintain multiple release versions simultaneously.</p></blockquote><hr><h3>Branch Naming Conventions</h3><p>Consistent names make history readable:</p><pre><code>feature/user-authentication\nbugfix/login-redirect-loop\nhotfix/payment-rounding-error\nchore/upgrade-laravel-12</code></pre><p>Whatever strategy you choose, <strong>document it</strong> and make sure the whole team follows it.</p>