GIT_WORKFLOW.md

Git Workflow

Branch Structure

main (stable, production-ready)
  ↑ merge
develop (integration branch)
  ↑ merge
feature/cuda-kernels (CUDA kernel development)

Workflow

Development Process

1. Create feature branch from develop:

   git checkout develop
   git checkout -b feature/cuda-kernels

2. Add kernel implementations:

   • Place kernels in cuda/kernels/XXX_name/kernel.cu
   • Each kernel iteration as sequential commits
   • Commit format: kernel-XXX: [description]

3. Iterative development:

   • Compilation fixes
   • Correctness fixes
   • Performance analysis
   • Each step as separate commit

4. Merge to develop:

   git checkout develop
   git merge --no-ff feature/cuda-kernels

   • Merge when kernels are validated
   • Preserves feature branch history

5. Merge develop to main:

   • After validation and documentation
   • Clean main branch history

Commit Message Format

Kernel additions:

kernel-XXX: Add [description] kernel (LLM-generated)

Fixes:

kernel-XXX: Fix [issue type] - [description]

Validation:

kernel-XXX: [Status] - [result summary]

Example Workflow

git checkout develop
git checkout -b feature/cuda-kernels

# Kernel 000: Baseline
git add cuda/kernels/000_baseline/
git commit -m "kernel-000: Add baseline z-coalesced CUDA kernel (LLM-generated)"
git commit -m "kernel-000: Fix compilation errors"
git commit -m "kernel-000: Fix correctness, passes parity test"
git commit -m "kernel-000: Performance analysis - near roofline, 9x speedup"

# Kernel 001: Tiled attempt
git add cuda/kernels/001_tiled/
git commit -m "kernel-001: Add x-y tiled kernel (LLM-generated, optimization attempt)"
git commit -m "kernel-001: Correctness issues identified, slower than baseline"

# Kernel 002: Sliding window
git add cuda/kernels/002_sliding/
git commit -m "kernel-002: Add sliding window kernel (LLM-generated, refined approach)"
git commit -m "kernel-002: Passes correctness, performance analysis complete"

# Merge to develop
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff feature/cuda-kernels