What does "trunk-based development" mean in programming?
trunk-based development is one of the most common terms in software development. This guide explains what it means, how it is used in practice, and why it matters, with real examples from the developer world.
Definition
A branching strategy where all developers integrate their changes into a single shared branch (the trunk, usually main) frequently — at least once a day. Feature flags hide unfinished work. This approach minimizes merge conflicts and enables continuous integration and deployment.
Example
"We practice trunk-based development: every engineer merges to main at least once a day, and feature flags gate incomplete work."
Related terms
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