Today, I came across an interesting article titled Why I prefer trunk-based development. The concept of Trunk-Based Development (TBD) was explored in the article, presenting a thought-provoking perspective.

Let’s dive into a recap of the main points discussed in the blog post.

Definition

Trunk-Based Development is an approach where all developers collaborate on a single branch, as opposed to the branching model that promotes creating separate branches for different features or bug fixes.

Key Benefits

Speed and Efficiency

TBD enables faster integrations and reduces the occurrence of merge conflict by integrating small changes regularly.

Greater Code Stability

Frequent commits and regular integration of changes from other developers contribute to a stable and functional codebase.

Enhanced Team Collaboration

When working on the same branch, developers gain better visibility into each other’s changes. This helps avoid the creation of isolated work environments that can lead to knowledge gaps within the team.

Improved Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI/CD) Practices

By committing changes regularly to the main branch, developers can ensure a continuously deployable codebase.

Reduced Technical Debt

Trunk-Based Development promotes frequent merging of small changes, which aids in managing and reducing technical debt.

Conclusion

Trunk-Based Development offers compelling benefits. While it is certainly a different mindset than the branching approach, the long-term benefits make it a worthwhile approach to explore and consider.