PKM

Git & Pull Request Workflow Learning

2 min read

Git & Pull Request Workflow Learning

Structured learning series on Git pull request workflows — from fundamentals to advanced patterns like stacked PRs, trunk-based development, and CI/CD integration.

Current Focus

Understanding PR concepts and best practices well enough to apply them to the solo Django/NextJS project using GitHub Projects.

Open Tasks

  • Merge conflict resolution — step-by-step process, VS Code helpers, golden rules → reference/git-merge-conflict-resolution
  • PR size best practices — concrete rules for when to split
  • Code review workflow — how to give/receive good reviews
  • Draft PRs — when and how to use them effectively
  • Stacked PRs — the mechanics of chaining dependent PRs
  • Feature flags — implementation patterns and tools
  • Trunk-based development — the philosophy and how teams adopt it
  • CI/CD with PRs — setting up automated checks (tests, linting, deploys)
  • Merge strategies — merge commit vs. squash vs. rebase, and when to use each

Key Decisions / Insights

  • GitHub Projects > Jira for solo developer — no overhead, native GitHub integration, free
  • reference/cicd-django-nextjs for CI/CD automation patterns once PRs are in place

People

None yet.

Progress Log

2026-05-15

Started learning about pull requests in Git. Claude mapped out 8 topics to explore (listed in Open Tasks above). Confirmed GitHub Projects as project management tool over Jira for solo dev use case — code, specs, PRs, and stories all in one place, zero context switching, fits spec.md + Claude workflow perfectly. Reminder saved to continue PR topics.

2026-05-18

Deep dive on merge conflict resolution. Walked through a complete real-world scenario: two developers editing the same line in config.ts, teammate merges first, you get a conflict. Covered the 7-step process (pull main → merge → spot markers → decide → clean → verify → commit/push). VS Code makes it even easier with colour-coded Accept buttons. Key rule: always grep -n "<<<<<<" <file> before staging. Reference note created: reference/git-merge-conflict-resolution.

2026-05-17

Successfully merged a PR with complete test coverage (13 tests passing). Reinforced the small-focused PR pattern: one task, clear scope, full test coverage — easy to review, easy to merge, easy to revert. Discussed three merge strategies:

  • Squash and merge — clean single commit, loses granular history
  • Merge commit — preserves full history, adds a merge commit
  • Rebase and merge — linear history, rewrites commits

Insight: focused PRs (single task + full test coverage) are the ideal atomic unit.

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