Git & GitHub Course
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Trunk Based Development

Definition

A version control management practice where all developers merge small, frequent updates to a core 'trunk' or `main` branch many times a day.

Explain Like I'm New

The extreme version of GitHub flow. Feature branches are barely used. Instead, developers push code directly to `main` constantly. To prevent breaking the app, they hide unfinished features behind 'Feature Flags' (If/Else statements).

Real World Example

Facebook does this. A developer writes half of a new login page, pushes it straight to main, but wraps it in `if (showNewLogin == true)`. Since it evaluates to false, users don't see the broken half-page, but the code is safely integrated.

Common Use Cases

  • •Massive engineering teams (Google, Facebook)
  • •Avoiding merge conflicts

Interactive Example

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Interview Questions

basic

  • What is the primary benefit of Trunk Based Development?

intermediate

  • What is a Feature Flag (or Feature Toggle)?

Flash Cards

Question

Primary benefit?

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Answer

It completely eliminates 'Merge Hell'. Because everyone merges 5 times a day, branches never get far apart, so massive, devastating merge conflicts simply don't happen.

Question

Feature Flag?

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Answer

A variable managed on a dashboard that allows you to turn a block of code On or Off in production without needing to deploy new code.