branching vs forking

branching and forking both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
branching	Yes	Yes	No	No
forking	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, branching and forking are synonyms defined as:

branching and forking: the act of branching out or dividing into branches

Other synonyms of branching include fork, ramification.

branching (noun)	forking (noun)
the act of branching out or dividing into branches	the act of branching out or dividing into branches
	the place where something divides into branches

branching (adjective)	forking (adjective)
having branches
resembling the branches of a tree