If your using TFVC for your source control and repositories of code, then you have probably already realized that developing a strategy for branching and merging and some best practices can be relatively simple, or it can be very complex depending on your business and application needs….
– Are you supporting multiple maintained release versions at the same time?
– Are you developing against multiple versions of your product simultaneously?
– Do you have more than one team working on the product?
These questions and other will drastically effect how much planning and understanding you need to have of your branching and merging strategies.
In developing the strategy for your product, I don’t think there is any specific strategy to exactly follow, rather start closest the strategy that makes sense for you and evolve into what it needs to be. To help you along that route, I highly recommend these guides on understanding TFS best practices and identified strategies for TFS branching, merging, and version control in general.
http://vsarbranchingguide.codeplex.com/
The latest version includes three key documents:
I think you’ll find that combining some of these strategies together and evolving as necessary will get you started in a decent spot.
If you are interested in additional material from the ALM Rangers, also check out this: