3 Git Workflows Every Developer Should Know (And When to Use Each)

Git workflows have evolved significantly over the past decade to match modern deployment practices. Git Flow, once the industry standard, uses multiple long-lived branches (main, develop, feature, release, hotfix) and works well for versioned software like mobile apps but adds overhead for continuous delivery. GitHub Flow simplifies this with a single main branch that's always deployable, making it ideal for web applications with frequent deployments. Trunk-based development represents the current best practice for high-performing teams, where developers commit directly to main (or use very short-lived branches) and rely on feature flags, extensive automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines to maintain stability. The evolution reflects improvements in tooling—automated testing, CI/CD, and feature management—that make faster integration possible. Teams often use hybrid approaches, and the right choice depends on your product type, team maturity, test coverage, and deployment frequency.