Lessons Learned Moving to Trunk-Based Development

Moving from a branching model, such as GitFlow, to trunk-based development isn't trivial or easy, but it is definitely worth the effort if increasing release velocity is your goal. Craig Sebenik led the transition to “trunk dev” at a couple of companies after being involved in a massive project at LinkedIn. Join Craig as he describes trunk dev and gives his perspective on the scenarios where the different flavors work best. Discuss what you lose by moving away from a branching model and what you gain with trunk dev, and why that transition will set up the team for future growth and faster development cycles. This talk will focus on Git, but the general concepts should work for other SCM systems. You'll learn some examples of where various schemes excel, the pros and cons of trunk dev itself, and what you can expect during a transition from a branching model to trunk dev. Moving to trunk-based development isn't always easy, but after traveling that road a few times, Craig is happy to help smooth out the path for others.