Question

I need to create bazaar workspace for 4 developers.
Each developer will work on its local computer and will have branch from its local branch to a network location that will be updated each commit (with the help of auto-mirror plugin).
In addition , one branch on network used for formal versions that being “pushed” by the integrator

Currently i’m using shared repository for my workspace (both in local and network) and all is working well.

But i’m still dont understand two things:

1. What is the differences between shared repository concept to colocated branches and stacked branches. are they better fit for my workspace?
2. is the only difference between shared repository and feature branches is that feature branches auto create the trunk branch inside the shared repository?

Answer 1

A shared repository is just the core bzr feature used to implement the colocated branches and feature branches workflows. Basically, it’s a directory that contains a pool of revisions, with subdirectories for each branch that have metadata pointing to a specific revision in the pool that is the tip for that branch.

The difference between colocated and feature branches is that colocated branches has all the branch metadata in the same directory as the shared repository and working tree, whereas feature branches have separate subdirectories for each branch with their own working trees.

Which one you should use depends on your development environment. If your environment makes it difficult to switch between different directories, e.g. if you have scripts that have paths to your working tree hard-coded, then you should use the colocated branches workflow. If it is better for your environment to have completely separate working directories for each branch, e.g. large amounts of compiled output that take a long time to regenerate, then the feature branches workflow would probably work better for you.