Git Flow vs Trunk-Based Development Comparison

# Git Flow - Full workflow example
# Initial setup
git flow init -d
# Branches: main, develop, feature/, release/, hotfix/

# Developing a new feature
git flow feature start user-profile-redesign
# → feature/user-profile-redesign branch created

# Development process
git add src/views/ProfileView.swift
git commit -m "feat(profile): redesign user profile card"
git add src/viewmodels/ProfileViewModel.swift
git commit -m "feat(profile): add avatar lazy loading"

# Feature complete — merge into develop
git flow feature finish user-profile-redesign
# → feature branch deleted, merged into develop

# Preparing a release
git flow release start 2.4.0
# → release/2.4.0 branch created

# Only bug fixes on the release branch!
git commit -m "fix: avatar cache invalidation on logout"
git commit -m "chore: bump version to 2.4.0"

# Release complete
git flow release finish 2.4.0
# → merged into main, tag created (v2.4.0), merged back into develop

# Production issue detected
git flow hotfix start fix-crash-on-launch
git commit -m "fix: nil pointer in AppDelegate startup"
git flow hotfix finish fix-crash-on-launch
# → merged into main and develop, v2.4.1 tag

# Trunk-Based Development - Daily workflow

# Every morning: start from latest
git pull origin main

# Short feature branch (max 1-2 days!)
git checkout -b feat/quick-login-improvement

# Small, atomic commits
git add src/views/LoginView.swift
git commit -m "feat: add biometric login button"

git add tests/LoginTests.swift
git commit -m "test: biometric auth unit tests"

# Merge into trunk right away (even if unfinished, behind a feature flag!)
git checkout main
git pull origin main
git merge feat/quick-login-improvement
git push origin main
git branch -d feat/quick-login-improvement

# Hide the incomplete feature behind a feature flag (Swift)
# FeatureFlags.swift
enum FeatureFlag: String {
    case newLoginUI = "new_login_ui"
    case profileV2 = "profile_v2"
    case darkModeV3 = "dark_mode_v3"
}

class FeatureFlagService {
    static func isEnabled(_ flag: FeatureFlag) -> Bool {
        // Read from remote config or a local override
        return RemoteConfig.shared.bool(forKey: flag.rawValue)
    }
}

// Usage in a View
if FeatureFlagService.isEnabled(.newLoginUI) {
    NewLoginView()
} else {
    LegacyLoginView()
}

# CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions)
# .github/workflows/ci.yml:
# on: push (branches: [main])
# → lint → test → build → deploy staging → smoke test → deploy production