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Software Engineering vocabulary · Version Control

Main branch

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In software engineering, main branch means: The central branch of a repository that holds the official, up-to-date version of the code. Other branches are created from it and merged back into it.

In Turkish: ana dal, ana branch

How it is used

Usually named main; older projects use master. Teams protect the main branch so nobody can push to it directly. People say 'branch off main', 'merge into main' and 'main is broken' when the latest build fails.

Example sentences

  1. Nobody can push directly to the main branch; everything goes through a pull request.

  2. Create your branch from the latest main branch, not from my feature branch.

Common collocations

  • merge into the main branch
  • protected main branch
  • branch off main
  • keep main green
  • branchA separate line of development in a repository, where you can work on changes without affecting the main code until you are ready to merge.
  • feature branchA separate branch created to work on one feature or fix, so the work can be developed and reviewed without affecting the main branch.
  • mergeTo combine the changes from one branch into another, so that both sets of work end up in the same code.
  • pull requestA request to merge your code changes from one branch into another, so that teammates can review and discuss them first.

More terms: Version Control

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