CST438 - Week 3

Describe what are the good points about using Git for source code management.

• Helps enable distributed development by allowing multiple developers to work on the same file/project at the same time. Services like GitHub or GitLab build a whole ecosystem around Git to foster a more productive workflow for all
• Git allows people to create branches of a repository so one person's development doesn't interfere with another's
• When it's time to bring those changes back into the main code branch, Git handles merge the changes in. Most of the time it's fairly automatic, but even when there are merge conflicts Git helps show the differences and helps you make a choice on how to proceed.
• Enables tracked revision history - so it's easy to see changes to a file over time by what author

What are possible problems that Git merge does not solve when merging code from different developers?

• For one, even after a clean successful merge, the code could still not work correctly. Changes from one developer can effect the changes from another developer and have unintended consequences. Or changes from two different branches can effect the logic of the overall method/program.
• Git merge doesn't enforce any syntax conventions or style conventions amongst developers
• Dependencies - a Git merge doesn't enforce any dependencies that might be different between two branches.