Top 20 Git Interview Questions with Answers for Programmers

Hello guys, if you are preparing for Software developer interview then you should prepare for Git, one of the most popular version control and source control tool in Software industry. Almost every company, both big and small are now using Git to store their source code and conduct code reviews. If you already know Git and looking for frequently asked Git Interview questions then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared best Git courses and best places to learn Git and in this article, I am going to share 20 Git interview questions with Answers. You can use these Git questions to not only check your git knowledge but also to learn and revise essential Git concepts in quick time. 

If you have used Git in your project then most likely you can answer these questions but if you cannot you can always go back and check these free Git courses to further learn and revise key git concepts, commands, and best practices. 

You are going to succeed in your Git interview that is ahead of you. You will succeed because of having the right information to enable you achieve that. That information is nowhere but here in this article. It is in form of questions together with their answers and they are what you will face when you get to your interview. Listed below are top 20 Git interview questions with answers.

20 Git Interview Questions with Answers for Programmers

Without any further ado, here is a list of common git questions you can prepare for interviews. As I said, these git questions covers essential git concepts and commands and suitable for all level of programmers but particularly 1 to 3 years of experience. Experienced programmer with more than 5 years of experience which have used other source control tools like CVS, SVN, TFS, VSS, or Clearvision can also use these questions to prepare for git interviews. 

1. What is Git?

Answer: Git is a version control system for tracking changes in computer files and is used to help coordinate work among several people on a project while tracking progress over time. In other words, we can say it’s a tool that facilitates source code management in software development.

2. What is a Git repository?
Answer: Git repository refers to a place where all the Git files are stored. These files can either be stored on the local repository or on the remote repository.

3. What are some of the few Git commands with their functions?
Answer:

• Git config - Configure the username and email address
• Git add - Add one or more files to the staging area
• Git diff - View the changes made to the file
• Git init - Initialize an empty Git repository
• Git commit - Commit changes to the head but not to the remote repository

Here is a big list of git commands:

4. What are the advantages of using Git?
Answer:

• Faster release cycles
• Easy team collaboration
• Widespread acceptance
• Maintains the integrity of source code
• Pull requests

5. How do you resolve conflicts in Git?
Answer: The following are the steps that will help you resolve conflicts in Git:

• Identify the files responsible for the conflicts.
• Implement the desired changes to the files
• Add the files using the git add command.
• The last step is to commit the changes in the file with the help of the git commit command.

6. How can you discover if a branch has already been merged or not?
Answer: There are two commands to determine these two different things.

• git branch --merged - Returns the list of branches that have been merged into the current branch.
• git branch --no-merged - Returns the list of branches that have not been merged.

7. What are the various Git repository hosting functions?
Answer:

• Github
• Gitlab
• Bitbucket
• SourceForge
• GitEnterprise

8. What is the difference between git pull and git fetch?
Answer: Git pull command pulls new changes or commits from a particular branch from your central repository and updates your target branch in your local repository. On the other hand, git fetch is also used for the same purpose but it works in a slightly different way. 

When you perform a git fetch, it pulls all new commits from the desired branch and stores it in a new branch in your local repository. If you want to reflect these changes in your target branch, git fetch must be followed with a git merge. Your target branch will only be updated after merging the target branch and fetched branch.

9. What does a commit object contain?
Answer: Commit object contains the following components:

• A set of files, representing the state of a project at a given point of time
• Reference to parent commit objects
• An SHA-1 name, a 40 character string that uniquely identifies the commit object

10. What is the difference between ‘git remote’ and ‘git clone’?
Answer: ‘git remote add’ creates an entry in your git config that specifies a name for a particular URL whereas ‘git clone’ creates a new git repository by copying an existing one located at the URL

11. What is SubGit?
Answer: SubGit is a tool for SVN to Git migration. It can create a writable Git mirror of a local or remote Subversion repository and use both Subversion and Git as long as you like.

12. What language is used in Git?
Answer: Git uses ‘C’ language. GIT is fast, and ‘C’ language makes this possible by reducing the overhead of run times associated with high-level languages.

13. What is the difference between reverting and resetting?
Answer:

• Git reset is a powerful command that is used to undo local changes to the state of a Git repository. Git reset operates on “The Three Trees of Git” which are, Commit History (HEAD), the Staging Index, and the Working Directory.
• Revert command in Git creates a new commit that undoes the changes from the previous commit. This command adds a new history to the project. It does not modify the existing history.

14. What are some of the most popular Git repository hosting functions?
Answer: Below is the list of Git repository hosting functions:

• Pikacode
• Assembla
• Visual Studio Online
• GitHub
• GitEnterprise
• Net
• Beanstalk
• CloudForge
• GitLab
• Planio
• Perforce
• Fog Creek Kiln

15. What are some of the best graphical GIT client for LINUX?
Answer: Some of the best GIT client for LINUX are:

• Git Cola
• Git-g
• Smart git
• Giggle
• Git GUI

16. What are some of the few Git repository hosting services?
Answer:

• Pikacode
• Visual Studio Online
• GitHub
• GitEnterprise
• SourceForge.net

17. What does ‘hooks’ comprise of in Git?
Answer: This directory consists of shell scripts that are activated if you run the corresponding Git commands. For example, git will try to execute the post-commit script after you have run a commit.

18. What is the difference between Git and GitHub?
Answer: Git is a version control system that is used in the management of the source code history. GitHub, on the other hand, is a cloud-based hosting service that is used in the management of Git repositories. GitHub is designed to help in the better management of open-source projects.

19. What is the syntax for rebasing in Git?
Answer: The syntax for rebasing in Git is “git rebase [new-commit]”

20. What is the function of ‘git reset’?
Answer: The function of ‘Git Reset’ is to reset your index as well as the working directory to the state of your last commit.

That's all about the frequently asked Git interview questions and answers. Every programmer and software developer should know essential git concepts like remote repository, push, pull, fetch, squashing commits, rebase etc and those are the ones which are often asked during interviews. 

In summary, the above-mentioned questions, are the most suitable ones because they are the ones that are frequently asked in Git interviews. You will find nothing strange when you enter the interview room and therefore you just have to relax and think about the questions with answers that you have gone through above. I wish you the best of luck in your forthcoming interview.