Subversion Branch/Trunk Best Practice - keeping Branch Up-to-Date?

Question

My development team has worked with subversion for quite some time. The way that manage the trunk and branches is as follows:

• We (almost) always release from t

Answer 1

Firstly, I don't think there's a one-size fits all solution when it comes to managing code branches and releases. But to touch on a few of your points from my perspective:

• Yes, I would merge changes from trunk into the release branch more often. Smaller chunks are always going to be more manageable than one large integration. And of course this means you're working against the latest most stable code.

• Proactively teach people how to merge well. The developer who made the change should be doing (or be closely involved with) the merge. Understand what it is you are taking and what it should look like when it is finished. I too often see people run a integration without really knowing what they are doing and what they are expecting as the result.

• Perhaps you want to have an integration branch that isn't trunk. This can be tested daily and any issues caught here before they go and break trunk and scare everybody.