Git & SDLC Interview Questions and Answers

Git and software delivery interview questions — merge vs rebase, resolving conflicts, reset vs revert, branching strategies, pull request workflow, semantic versioning and CI/CD basics.

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Git & SDLC

21Questions

7Topics

Basic to AdvancedDifficulty

Fresher to 5+ YrsExperience

All Git & SDLC Questions (21) Sort by

01 What is Git, and how is it different from a centralized VCS like SVN? Git is a distributed version control system: every clone is a full repository with the complete history, so you can… Fundamentals Basic Fresher
02 What is the staging area (index) in Git? The staging area (the “index”) is a middle step between your working directory and a commit. git add puts changes into… Fundamentals Basic Fresher
03 What is the difference between git fetch and git pull? git fetch downloads new commits from the remote into your remote-tracking branches (origin/main) but doesn't touch… Remotes Basic Fresher
04 What is the difference between git merge and git rebase? Merge combines two branches with a new merge commit, preserving the exact history of what happened. Rebase re-writes… Branching Intermediate 1–2 Yrs
05 What can you do with an interactive rebase? git rebase -i <base> opens a list of commits you can edit: squash/fixup to combine commits, reword to fix a message,… Branching Advanced 3–5 Yrs
06 What is the difference between git reset, git revert and git restore? git revert <sha> creates a new commit that undoes an earlier one — safe for shared history. git reset moves the branch… Undoing Changes Intermediate 1–2 Yrs
07 How do you resolve a merge conflict? Git marks the conflicting sections with <<<<<<< HEAD / ======= / >>>>>>> branch. You edit each file to the correct… Branching Intermediate 1–2 Yrs
08 What is git stash, and when do you use it? git stash saves your uncommitted changes (staged + unstaged) onto a stack and reverts your working directory to a… Working Directory Basic Fresher
09 What is git cherry-pick? git cherry-pick <sha> takes the changes from one specific commit and applies them as a new commit on your current… Branching Intermediate 2–3 Yrs
10 What Git branching strategies do you know (GitFlow, trunk-based, GitHub Flow)? GitFlow — long-lived develop + main, plus feature/, release/, hotfix/ branches; heavy, suited to versioned/on-prem… Branching Intermediate 2–3 Yrs
11 What is a pull request, and what makes a good one? A pull request proposes merging one branch into another and is the place for code review, automated checks (build,… Workflow Basic Fresher
12 What makes a good commit message? A concise summary line (~50 chars, imperative mood — “Add retry to payment client”), a blank line, then a body… Workflow Basic Fresher
13 What is a detached HEAD state in Git? Normally HEAD points at a branch, which points at a commit. In detached HEAD, HEAD points directly at a commit… Fundamentals Intermediate 1–2 Yrs
14 What is git reflog, and how does it save you? git reflog records every time HEAD moved — every commit, checkout, reset, rebase and merge — locally, for ~90 days. So… Undoing Changes Intermediate 2–3 Yrs
15 What is Semantic Versioning (SemVer)? SemVer is MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. Bump MAJOR for a breaking change, MINOR for a backward-compatible feature, PATCH for a… SDLC Basic 1–2 Yrs
16 What is CI/CD? Continuous Integration — every push triggers an automated build + tests, so integration problems surface within… SDLC Basic 1–2 Yrs
17 What is a feature flag (feature toggle)? A feature flag is a runtime switch that turns a piece of functionality on or off without a redeploy. It lets you merge… SDLC Intermediate 2–3 Yrs
18 What is a remote-tracking branch, and what is an upstream branch? A remote-tracking branch (origin/main) is a local, read-only pointer to where a branch was on the remote at your last… Remotes Intermediate 1–2 Yrs
19 How do you ship an urgent production hotfix with Git? Branch from the exact commit/tag that's in production (not from main, which may have unreleased changes), make the… Workflow Intermediate 2–3 Yrs
20 What is a .gitignore file, and what belongs in it? .gitignore lists file patterns Git should not track — build output (bin/, obj/), dependencies (node_modules/), IDE… Fundamentals Basic Fresher
21 What is a Git tag, and what is the difference between lightweight and annotated tags? A tag marks a specific commit permanently — usually a release. A lightweight tag is just a name pointing at a commit.… Fundamentals Basic 1–2 Yrs

About these Git & SDLC questions

Git questions in an interview aren't about memorising commands — they check that you understand the model (commits, branches, the staging area, remotes) and can recover from a mess without panicking. The recurring topics are merge versus rebase and when each is appropriate, resolving conflicts, the difference between reset, revert and restore, and how your team's branching strategy and pull-request process fit together.

The SDLC side extends into code review, CI/CD, semantic versioning and how a change goes from a branch to production safely.

Git & SDLC Interview Questions and Answers

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About these Git & SDLC questions