openFrameworks git workflow

Intro

[bilderbuchi]: This page will detail the git branching workflow used in development of oF. I just set up a first version, feel free to edit/add as needed. :-)

This page documents the workflow followed by the openFrameworks community when dealing with the development of openFrameworks. If you want to contribute, and/or already have code or bug fixes you would like to see in the official repo, please follow these guidelines to make the life of the devs easier, minimize time needed for review, and ensure speedy and efficient incorporation of your improvements into oF.

The workflow

The git workflow for openFrameworks is based on this excellent article detailing a very good branching model. Read the article first, it's quite complete and nciely presented, no need to replicate everything here.

Areas where that workflow is adapted to better fit the openFrameworks community's needs are as follows:

[bb]: Yeah, where is it different?

[bb]: I think it's a good idea to have, in addition to feature-* branches, bugfix-* branches, because much bugfixing happens in developers' repositories. These would have the same characteristics as feature branches (finite lifetime, only live in the devs' repos, not in the main repo, branches off and merges into develop), but are primarily meant for bug fixing, not for new features.

General git resources:

If you have just discovered git, or want to learn some tricks, there are a couple of resources you should look at (roughly in the order you should read them):

The github help page: Deals with basis usage, concepts and terms of git and github. Good to get a first idea.

gitref.org: Nice and concise reference of the essential functions of git. Takes about 30min to read through, you'll come out smarter at the end.

Pro Git: A book, also freely available on the homepage in html form. Deals with everything from git basics to advanced concepts.

The git man pages: The manual of git. Also available on your command line, but much more readable on the net. :D Bare-bones explanation of the details of command line git usage.

If you ever have a question about how to do things in git, it is often best to enter your question on Stack overflow. Most probably someone there has had your problem before. For example, How do I make git ignore mode changes?

There is also a great amount of articles, wiki pages, tutorials and blog posts about git, for example git for the lazy or Git Immersion.