CODEWITHSUNDEEP
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DisplayName80
DisplayName80

Reputation: 51

In Gitlab, are you supposed to create a merge request before even starting to work on an issue?

When I click on the issue I've just been assigned to, the default action is "Create merge request". I don't understand why. Wouldn't it make more sense to start working on the issue before issuing a merge request? There's another possible action "Create branch". That makes more sense to me. Should I select that option instead?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 1993

Answers (2)

Engineer
Engineer

Reputation: 8847

Actually, I'd argue there should instead be something called a branch request for this purpose.

However, in the absence of such a thing, I would rather state the purpose of a branch before even beginning work on it, by creating a merge request at the start with that detail, while the issue is still very clear in mind.

This is for those who don't have much resource for creating and managing issues... issues that then have to be tied to commits through commit logs, i.e. where individual programmer resource is better put into simply implementing features and fixes. Naming branches accordingly is often the way this is done, but I'd argue it's not enough, and is better to have more detail stored at the start.

Upvotes: 0

Sylvain
Sylvain

Reputation: 1579

At the end of the day, I think it's really question of personal preference or team workflow.

The created merge request automatically gets the work in progress status, and its title will start with "Draft: ...". I'll we speak for myself but I'm using the merge request page as an entrypoint for different things. It lets me know:

  • who is working on what (without having to filter the list of issues by assignee)
  • what is the status of the ongoing tasks
  • which MR are ready to be reviewed (the ones not starting with "Draft")

We are trying to systematically have a look on Merge Requests before taking a new issue. I find this overview interesting.

I know there are other ways to have these pieces of information, so it's totally up to you. And I can understand that having empty merge requests can be disturbing or even confusing for large teams tackling a lot of issues at the same time.

Upvotes: 2

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