Common misconceptions of Trunk-based development

Overview
This article debunks the most frequent myths surrounding trunk-based development (TBD), a branching strategy that encourages all developers to commit to a single shared branch. It explains why TBD is not a chaotic or risky approach, and how it supports continuous integration, fast feedback, and high-quality releases.

Key Takeaways

• TBD does not mean developers must commit directly to production; short-lived feature flags and automated testing keep releases safe.
• Misconception that TBD requires a monolithic codebase is false; it works well with micro-services and modular architectures.
• Proper CI pipelines, automated testing, and feature toggles are essential to make TBD successful.
• Teams that adopt TBD often see faster cycle times, reduced merge conflicts, and smoother deployments.

Who Would Benefit

• Engineering managers looking to improve release velocity.
• Technical leaders wanting to adopt continuous integration practices.
• Developers transitioning from long-lived feature branches.
• Teams evaluating DevOps transformations.

Frameworks and Methodologies

• Continuous Integration (CI)
• Feature Flags / Toggle Management
• DevOps
• Agile Development