Patterns for Managing Source Code Branches from Martin Fowler

Like most software patterns, few of them are gold standards that all teams should follow. Software development workflow is very dependent on context, in particular the social structure of the team and the other practices that the team follows.
In thinking about these patterns, I find it useful to develop two main categories. One group looks at integration, how multiple developers combine their work into a coherent whole. The other looks at the path to production, using branching to help manage the route from an integrated code base to a product running in production.

https://martinfowler.com/articles/branching-patterns.html