Sourcetree Tutorial PDF: A Comprehensive Guide to Collaborative Development

The Forking Workflow in Sourcetree is a unique approach to collaborative development that allows multiple developers to work together on a project without sacrificing security or control. In this tutorial, we'll explore the benefits and mechanics of this workflow, as well as its differences from other popular Git workflows.

At its core, the Forking Workflow involves creating a copy of an official public repository for each developer working on the project. This personal public repository serves as their own sandbox, where they can work independently without affecting the original codebase. Meanwhile, the official repository remains untouched and is only accessible to the project maintainer.

When a new developer joins the project, they don't directly clone the official repository. Instead, they fork it to create their own copy on the server. This allows them to work on feature branches that are separate from the main codebase. The result is a distributed workflow that provides flexibility and security for large teams or open source projects.

One of the key advantages of the Forking Workflow is its ability to integrate contributions without requiring everyone to push to a single central repository. Instead, each developer pushes their changes to their own server-side repository, and only the project maintainer can merge these changes into the official codebase.

In Sourcetree, this workflow is implemented using a branching model based on the Gitflow Workflow. This allows developers to create feature branches that are easily merged back into the mainline codebase. The Forking Workflow also enables the project maintainer to accept commits from any developer without giving them write access to the official codebase.

The Forking Workflow is most commonly seen in public open source projects, where multiple contributors work together on a shared goal. In these scenarios, each contributor has two Git repositories: a private local repository and a public server-side repository. This setup provides an added layer of security and control, as developers can only push changes to their own server-side repository.

In conclusion, the Forking Workflow in Sourcetree is a powerful tool for collaborative development that offers flexibility, security, and scalability. By understanding this workflow and its mechanics, you'll be better equipped to work with large teams or open source projects using Git.

Sourcetree tutorial pdf