What Is Meant by "Short-Lived" and "Long-Lived" Branches in Git?

In git, there can be two types of branches; short-lived and long-lived:

  1. Short-lived branches are temporary branches that are created for a specific purpose, such as developing a new feature or fixing a bug;
  2. Long-lived branches exist for a longer time, such as for the duration of the project.

The following table shows a quick summary of the differences between the two:

Short-lived Branch Long-lived Branch
Purpose: Created for a specific feature or issue. Serves as the primary branch for the project.
Example: feature branches, bug-fix branches, etc. main branch, develop branch, etc.
Creation: Typically created from a long-lived branch. Typically created from a specific starting point, which is often the most stable and up-to-date version of the project's codebase.
Management: Can be created and merged by individual contributors. Typically managed by a project maintainer or team.
Duration: Short-lived and usually deleted once merged. Long-lived and rarely deleted.
Stability: May not always be in a stable state. Should always be in a stable state.
Updates: May have more frequent commits and pushes. Commits and pushes may be less frequent.

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