From 79e324083baab1f06da9b6884abf18770bf553b0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mridul Aggarwal <mridul_aggarwal@yahoo.co.in>
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2018 23:38:52 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] suggest fast forwarding when pulling from remote

---
 README.md | 18 ++++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e397e5f..9dfc336 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Each new feature should reside in its own branch using `feature/` prefix, But in
 #### Creating a feature branch
 
 `git checkout master`
-`git pull origin master`
+`git pull --ff-only origin master`
 `git checkout -b feature/my_feature`
 
 #### Finishing a feature branch
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ Each new feature should reside in its own branch using `feature/` prefix, But in
 When you’re done with the development work on the feature, the next step is to merge the `feature/my_feature` into `staging` to show it Client and QA for their approval.
 
 `git checkout staging`
-`git pull origin staging`
+`git pull --ff-only origin staging`
 `git merge --no-ff feature/my_feature`
 `git push origin staging`
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ When you’re done with the development work on the feature, the next step is to
 After Client's approval, the next step is to merge the `feature/my_feature` into `master` to deploy it production server
 
 `git checkout master`
-`git pull origin master`
+`git pull --ff-only origin master`
 `git merge --no-ff feature/my_feature`
 `git push origin master`
 
@@ -61,22 +61,28 @@ Once it get deployed to prodction, the next step is to delete local and remote b
 `hotfix` branches are used to quickly patch for production. This branch that should fork directly off of `master`. As soon as the fix is complete, it should be merged into both `master` and `staging`.
 
 `git checkout master`
-`git pull origin master`
+`git pull --ff-only origin master`
 `git checkout -b hotfix/my_fix`
 
 Similar to finishing a feature branch, a hotfix branch gets merged into both `master` and `staging`.
 
 `git checkout master`
-`git pull origin master`
+`git pull --ff-only origin master`
 `git merge --no-ff hotfix/my_fix`
 `git push origin master`
 
 `git checkout staging`
-`git pull origin staging`
+`git pull --ff-only origin staging`
 `git merge --no-ff hotfix/my_fix`
 `git push origin staging`
 
 
+## Things to note
+* Always use `--ff-only` when pulling changes from remote, otherwise it creates a merge commit, which pollutes history. Then you can rebase your local branch over remote and push accordingly.
+* If a change is going to take 3 or more commits, it should not be in a hotfix branch
+* When doing a merge you should always use `--no-ff` to create an additional commit. This helps to group related commits together.
+
+
 ## Summary
 
 - A `staging` branch is created from `master`