Version Control and Branching

Version control is the foundation of CI/CD. Without a reliable system for tracking changes, collaboration, and history, no pipeline can function. This lesson covers Git fundamentals, branching strategies, and how they support continuous integration.

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Why Version Control Matters for CI/CD

Version control enables:

• Traceability — every change is recorded with an author, timestamp, and message
• Collaboration — multiple developers work on the same codebase simultaneously
• Reversibility — any change can be reverted if it causes problems
• Automation triggers — CI/CD pipelines are triggered by version control events (push, PR, tag)

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Git — The Industry Standard

Git is the dominant version control system used in software development. Created by Linus Torvalds in 2005, it is distributed, fast, and supports powerful branching workflows.

Key Git Concepts