Many teams have moved from legacy, centralized version control systems to distributed version control systems (DVCSs) such as Git. But those same teams often struggle with managing source code.

As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and DVCSs can make your life hell if branches are mismanaged.

Software development expert Dave Todaro explains key branch management techniques to keep things simple, while remaining flexible enough to handle the demands of a contemporary development team.

Key takeaways:
* Get a refresher on key concepts and features of distributed version control systems such as Git
* Discover the one key practice that makes branches easy to manage
* Learn how branch management strategies such as Git Flow can help your team be more agile
* Understand how branches provide an easy way to facilitate code reviews
* Find out the key techniques to avoid "merge hell" when it comes time to combine code from multiple branches