Subject: Re: Really beginner on Version Control

From: Andreas Ericsson <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:40:23 +0200

On 09/21/2010 04:42 PM, FernandoBasso wrote:
> 
> I am really a beginner in. Bear with me please.
> 
> Why do we merge, say a testing branch into the master branch ? What is the
> use of it ?
> 

Because the sum of the whole is greater than the parts. Most features in git
for example are developed on topic branches. This makes it possible to keep
unfinished code separate from the production branch that people actually use.

> When there is a conflict when merging branches (merging the testing into the
> current branch), should I edit the 'current' branch or the 'testing' branch
> ?
> 

You should edit the working tree, since that's where the conflict will be
staged. When you're done, commit the results and that will be a new commit
on the branch you're on.

> Should both branches have exactly the same code so that they can be merged
> without conflicts ?
> 

Both branches should most definitely not have exactly the same code. If they
did, there would be no point in merging them. The merge-result shouldn't
have the same code as any of the branches either, unless you actually want
to throw one branch away, in which case you'd be far better off doing just
that.

-- 
Andreas Ericsson                   [email-masked]
OP5 AB                             www.op5.se
Tel: +46 8-230225                  Fax: +46 8-230231

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