After much experimentation over the years, I've found the best approach as follows (using git): - always ship master - always develop using topic branches (br

After much experimentation over the years, I've found the best approach as follows (using git): - always ship master - always develop using topic branches (branches dedicated to a single feature) - deploy topic branches to dev/staging (with large visible footer label text) - don't leave old topic branches around on your central git server (delete as soon as its tested and merged back into master)