Which of these is a recommended best practice for branching?

Merging user story branches to develop frequently is considered a recommended best practice in version control and branching strategies. This approach enhances collaboration among team members and allows for continuous integration, ensuring that various features and changes are regularly combined into the main codebase. By integrating changes frequently, you can catch conflicts early, reduce integration issues, and facilitate quicker feedback loops.

Moreover, this practice aligns well with agile methodologies where iterative development is crucial. It fosters a scenario where features are built incrementally, improving visibility into the progress of the project and helping all team members stay aligned. The practice also allows teams to respond swiftly to changes or bugs, as they are working with smaller, more manageable sets of changes rather than larger, infrequent merges.

In contrast, developing all features in isolation can lead to an accumulation of changes that may cause significant integration issues later. Creating a branch for each individual test could lead to unnecessary complexity and fragmentation of the codebase. Keeping the Master branch static would inhibit the natural flow of development and collaboration, thereby undermining the benefits of frequent integration.