In the recommended branching strategy, what is the primary role of the 'master' branch?

The primary role of the 'master' branch in the recommended branching strategy is to serve as the production branch and is sourced with production data. This means that the code and data in the master branch are stable and have been thoroughly tested, making it safe for deployment to production environments. It acts as the official version of the project, ensuring that any changes made in development branches are properly reviewed and integrated before they reach this critical branch.

In addition, using the master branch in this way helps maintain a clear and organized workflow, allowing developers to build new features or make changes in isolated branches without affecting the production environment until those changes are deemed ready. This leads to better management of releases and minimizes the risk of introducing bugs into the live application.

The labeling of the master branch as the production branch reinforces the importance of maintaining high standards of code quality and operational readiness, making it an essential practice in a well-structured development process.