Feature branches

Feature branches isolate a change for development and review. They work best when **short-lived**, regularly synced with main, and backed by CI on every push.

					main ─────●─────●─────●─────●
           \       /
feature     ●─●─●─●
				

Sync frequently via merge or rebase to shrink the final integration diff. For incomplete behavior shipped to production, use feature flags — branches are not deployment controls.

On interviews: compare feature branches with trunk-based development; mention flags, PR size, and integration frequency.

Common pitfalls: months-long branches with surprise conflicts; treating the branch as a permission to skip CI; multiple unrelated features on one branch.

The trade-off is isolation (separate branch) versus continuous integration (small merges to main).

Checklist:

• Keep branches small and short-lived.
• Sync with main at least daily on active work.
• One feature or fix per branch when possible.
• Use flags to decouple merge from user-visible release.