How do you keep your Git repository clean and organized for continuous delivery?

2 Why use Git for continuous delivery?

Git is a distributed version control system that allows you to track and manage changes to your code across multiple branches and repositories. Git enables you to work on different features and bug fixes without affecting the main branch, and to merge your changes when they are ready. Git also supports collaboration among developers, who can share, review, and integrate their code using pull requests and code reviews. Git is essential for continuous delivery, as it allows you to maintain a consistent and stable codebase that can be deployed at any time.

4 How to write good commit messages?

Writing good commit messages is an important part of using Git for continuous delivery. These messages, which are descriptions of the changes made to a repository, help the team understand what each commit does, why it was done, and how it relates to other commits. When writing a commit message, use the imperative mood as if you are giving a command and start with a short summary of the change, no more than 50 characters. Additionally, explain the why and the how of the change and reference any relevant issues or pull requests using their IDs or URLs. Doing this will ensure that everyone is on the same page and can make informed decisions about changes.

5 How to use pull requests and code reviews?

Pull requests and code reviews are essential for collaboration and quality assurance in Git. A pull request is a request to merge changes from one branch to another, such as from a feature branch to the develop branch or the develop branch to the master branch. Code reviews involve examining and commenting on the code in a pull request before approving or rejecting it. Pull requests and code reviews can help you ensure that your code meets standards and conventions, catch errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities, share ideas with your team, and learn from each other. To use them effectively, create small and focused pull requests that address one issue or feature at a time. Write clear titles and descriptions for your pull requests, assign reviewers who are familiar with the code and context of your changes, respond to feedback and suggestions from reviewers, and merge pull requests when they are approved and pass all tests and checks.

6 How to automate your Git workflow?

The final step of using Git for continuous delivery is to automate your workflow as much as possible, using tools and pipelines that can perform tasks such as running tests and code analysis on every commit and pull request, building and deploying code to various environments on every merge or release, and notifying you and your team of the status and results of your workflow. GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and CircleCI are some of the tools and platforms that can help you with this. Automating your Git workflow has several advantages: it saves time and resources by eliminating manual and repetitive tasks, increases confidence by ensuring your code is always tested and deployable, and allows you to monitor and track your workflow performance.