GitFLow is a fairly widespread organization of Git repositories that segregates things properly and therefore collaborates with a large number of people.

Dedicated tools for Git have been created to allow greater work ease in merges, commits and passages between different branches.

GitFlow is based on a clear hierarchy of branches, which avoids unwanted commits on the main branches. The idea is to make clear additions of features, and to maintain stable states on the main branches.

There are generally several basic branches in a project(managed according to the GitFlow model):

• Master branch, the production version;
• The Develop branch, which is the unstable version, but in a “Debian-like” sense: “it's not crap, it's just that it can sometimes have unexpected functioning… bugs can appear!”
• Feature branches, each of which relates to the addition of a complex functionality(this may be related to a Issue, or even a set). After completing the work, we merge on Develop(and this automatically closes the issue of if you commit correctly)
• A branch Release, which is a new branch, based on Develop, created when we think it's mature enough for a new production version. It only commits bug fixes. Once these are completed, one merges on the main branch, Master;
• Branches Hotfix relates to the Master branch, for ex: when a bug has been detected and it is imperative for a quick remedy. Once the solution is found, we merge the HotFix branch on the Master branch(and we include the patch in the Develop branch).

The branches shown in this picture:

Grafikart offers a video of presentation of GitFlow, as always of excellent quality.

• The original presentation article by the creator: http://nvie.com/posts/a-successful-git-branching-model/
• A presentation in French: http://www.synbioz.com/blog/git-adopter-un-modele-de-versionnement-efficace
• In image (and in French), the commands of the different stages: https://danielkummer.github.io/git-flow-cheatsheet/index.fr_FR.html#features