Shared branch vs single branch

What are some of the pros/cons of using a single/shared branch versus the
private developer branch?

We are having an internal debate within the team where the idea of a
single/shared branch was proposed in reaction to two specific issues:

1. In the merge to trunk from individual developer branches, some code was
lost. It remains unclear whether it was user error on part of the person
doing the merge or the tool which caused the problem. In at least one case,
a file was partially merged.

2. The combined functionality (features assigned to two different
developers) was not included in the final application build and delivery.
In this case, the assignments were made months apart and one feature was
delivered without the other.

The expectation is that a shared/single branch will correct these issues. I
am curious to know what advice others can offer and what (if any) potential
issues we may experience with the new paradigm.
Thanks.
Amad.
Received on 2013-09-23 19:45:07 CEST