Re-thinking feature branch deployments

Bob Walker reflects on his transition to Git in 2013 and the challenges he faced with feature branch testing in static environments traditionally structured as Dev, Test, Staging, and Production. He discusses the limitations of this model, where new feature testing required merging into the master branch, increasing the risk of unfinished code reaching production. Walker explores alternative approaches like using feature flags and creating sandboxes for feature branches, which help in testing without affecting the production-ready code. He also suggests rethinking the typical Dev and Test environments by combining them into a single, more dynamic Test environment, which would allow for more efficient testing and deployment processes. This approach includes spinning up new infrastructure for feature branches and leveraging tools like Octopus Deploy to manage deployments more effectively. Walker emphasizes the importance of regularly updating feature branches with changes from the master branch to avoid complex merge conflicts. He concludes by proposing a shift in mindset towards treating testing environments like short-lived branches and production environments like a long-lasting trunk, and hints at detailing this new workflow setup in a future guide.