copy on write

Database Branching: A Developer's Guide to Git-Style Workflowsdatabricks.com

Database branching uses copy‑on‑write to give developers, CI jobs, and AI agents isolated database snapshots without full copies. Branches share unchanged data, store only deltas, and are disposable, enabling production‑like testing, per‑PR isolation, safe experimentation, and rapid cleanup. Safe operation requires protecting parent branches, using mock data, TTLs, and treating migrations as the…