Top 26 Github Interview Questions You Must Prepare 20.Apr.2024

Git pull is shorthand for Git fetch, followed by Git merge FETCH_HEAD. More specifically, Git pull runs Git fetch with the given parameters and calls Git merge to merge the retrieved branch heads into the current branch. Should be the name of a remote repository as forwarded to Git-fetch.

GitHub has a simple UI for creating branches. Once opened the branch drop-down and it prompts "Find or create a branch.” We need to Type the name of your new branch, then click the "create" button that appears. For retrieving the new branch from GitHub, we can use the standard Git fetch command.

GitHub provides a hosting service that facilitates a web-based Git repository. It includes all the functionality of Git with additional features added in. The gist is an additional attribute added to GitHub, which facilitates the sharing of code snippets, notes, to do lists and more. We can save our Gists as secret or public in the repository.

Fork is a copy of a repository. Forking a repository allows us to freely experiment with the changes without affecting the original project. Most commonly, forks are used to propose changes to someone else's project or to use someone else's project as a starting point of our own idea.

Whenever any programmer uploads their code to Git, other developers can access and edit it, isolated from each other and with all versions kept intact. Git takes away any confusion with having multiple people working on the same file at the same time. There are no chances of your hard work.

GitHub is a web-based Git or version control repository on the Internet with a hosting service. It offers the distributed version control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git as well as adding its own new features.

Branch in Git me a lightweight movable pointer to one of these commits. The default branch name in Git is the master. As we initially make commits, we are given a master branch that points to the last commit being made. Every time we commit, it moves forward automatically.

Git provides three key areas that are uniquely designed, to give developers lots of control over workflow:

1. A working directory, which contains all the current states of files. Numerous developers can access directory when they are logged in, so collaboration is extremely easy.
2. Staging area, which indexes everything for the next commit, and any files that have been added or edited since the previous save.
3. Git repository is a dedicated space where new commits are added. A Git repository maintains all the metadata, the files, and a dedicated database that tracks versions of the project.

With proper importance given on speed, data integrity, and excellent support for distributed, non-linear workflows, GitHub provides excellent standards for remote digital teams. In addition, Git is convenient for working offline or without a VPN (virtual private network), making it easy for the developers to work on the move and stay productive at will. Small & medium enterprises that are involved in building sites rapidly and prototypes for their customers, GitHub is the most efficient, safe and seamless way to get projects reviewed, approved, and signed off or on. GitHub provides the most cost-effective module in any business.

GitHub users shorten this to “repo.” It can be local to a folder on the computer, or it can be a storage space on GitHub or another online host. We can keep code files, text files, image files; our name it, inside a repository.

GitHub is not open-source software because they have a commercial offer based known as "GitHub for Enterprise.” Nevertheless, anyone can apply their ideas just like open-source software on GitHub look alike, known as GitLab which is a ruby application with its source code here.

We get a space of 1 GB but if it exceeds 1GB, we receive a polite email from GitHub Support requesting to reduce the size of the repository and scale it down. In addition, we place a strict limit of files exceeding 100 MB in size.

The flagship basic of GitHub to allow developers to browse the most popular development projects for “trending” repositories, an exciting method of checking out other developers’ work and check out “starred” projects that are recommended by GitHub staff members. Public repository files can also be downloaded as zip files and saved locally on any computer. It also provides access control and several collaboration features, such as wikis and basic task management tools for every project.

Following are the step required for uploading files:

1. Navigate to the main page of the GitHub repository.
2. Under your repository name, click Upload files.
3. Drag and drop the file or folder you would like to upload to your repository onto the file tree.
4. At the bottom of the page, type a short, meaningful commit message that describes the change you made to the file.

We can delete the GitHub user account any time. Before we do so, we should hand over the reins of any organizations we might own. Deleting the user account removes all repositories, forks of private repositories, wikis, issues, pull requests, and pages owned by the account.

Starring a repository allows us to keep track of projects that we find interesting, even if we aren't associated with the project. When we Star a repository, we are actually performing two distinct actions: Creating a bookmark for easier access, apart from motivating fellow developers and rate them.

GitHub is Git’s cloud-based publishing tool and hosting platform, which also has a desktop application for locally storing projects. With GitHub, developers can bring projects to life. Git repositories can be hosted on GitHub and made “live,” enabling the developer to post a site or application when it is in development stages. By sending a link to a GitHub project, clients can easily test-drive a site in progress with its functionality, rather than just looking for flat mockups.

Star in GitHub is equivalent to “Like” button on Facebook. A voting system, which enables developers to vouch for projects they think are excellent.

On this collaboration front, GitHub also lets team members set up the following:

1. Issues: These keep track of what collaborators are doing and allow them to ask about bugs. Issues can be opened or closed once they have been rectified.
2. Milestones: These pre-determined set goals, which motivate the collaborators to work towards recognition.

GitHub is industry-standard version control and publishing platform for web developers. GitHub is the place where developers store the code. It is the best place to share code with friends, co-workers, classmates, and total strangers. For understanding GitHub, we should understand about “Git.” “Git” is version control system, which me that whenever the developer creates something and make changes to the code or release new versions, anyone can keep track of all the modifications in a central repository.

Commit is a record of the files that have been modified, since the last time we made a commit. We make changes to our repo (for example, adding a file or modifying one) and then tell Git to put those files into a commit. Commits make up the core of our project and allow us to go back to the state of a project at any point.

GitHub handle is the username, which is displayed, on the top right corner in GitHub. This is the one we use to login to GitHub when we enter the site and commit to HTTPS and the one that appears in the URLs of our GitHub repositories.

This is a process through which, we request Git, to put files into a commit? This is where the staging environment or index comes in handy. When we make changes to the repo, Git notices that a file has changed but will not do anything with it (like adding it in a commit). To add a file to a commit, we need to add it to the staging environment. To do this, we can use the Git add command. Once we have used the Git, add the command to add all the files we want to the staging environment, we can then request Git to package them into a commit using the Git commit command.

Creating a gist requires a very simple process as depicted in the steps below: -

1. Sign in to GitHub.
2. We should the navigate to the gist home page.
3. After this, we need to type an optional description and name for the gist.
4. Key in the text of your gist into the gist text box.
5. Following this we should select either to create a public gist or to create a secret gist.

We can change our GitHub account name at any time. For this, we need to click the profile picture > Settings > Account Settings > Change Username. Links to the repositories will redirect to the new URLs, but they should be updated on all other sites because someone who chooses the abandoned username can override the links.

Pull requests let us inform others about the changes that have been pushed to a GitHub repository. Once a pull request is sent, interested developers can review the set of changes, discuss potential modifications, and even push follow-up commits if necessary.

Bit bucket and GitHub are very similar in terms of features. If the VCS is Mercurial, then Bit bucket is for us. Each has its own features not found in the other, such as GitHub pages for small web-hosting projects, or Bit bucket’s JIRA integration.

The use of GitHub can be explained in the following steps:

1. Install git and create a GitHub account.
2. Create a local git repository.
3. Add a new file to the repo.
4. Add a file to the staging environment.
5. Create a commit.
6. Create a new branch.