It's an optional step that isolates the codebase from forward-moving development changes, and (I find) eases the process of tagging Beta1, Beta2 without incrementing the version number (as Maven will prompt as a default). Mostly, it's a matter of developer preference; I happen to find branching an essential organizational step as tagging off trunk I find confusing. I've been updating the Wiki page referenced in my original post as I employ this process for EJB3 External API and EJB3 Impl projects. This thread is precisely for this debate. :) S, ALR View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4110150#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...