Question 1

What is the difference between git pull and git fetch?

Accepted Answer

git fetch downloads the new commits from the remote but does not change my working branch, so I can look at them first. git pull is git fetch followed by a merge (or a rebase, if configured) into my current branch. I use fetch when I want to review what changed before combining it with my work.

Question 2

Explain the difference between git merge and git rebase.

Accepted Answer

Both bring changes from one branch into another. Merge creates a merge commit and keeps the real history as it happened. Rebase moves my commits on top of the other branch, which gives a clean, straight history but rewrites commit IDs. I rebase my own feature branch to keep it up to date, but I never rebase a shared branch that others have already pulled.

Question 3

How do you resolve a merge conflict?

Accepted Answer

Git marks the conflicting parts of the file with <<<<<<<, ======= and >>>>>>>. I open the file, decide what the correct code is (sometimes a mix of both sides), remove the markers, then git add the file and finish with git commit, or git rebase --continue during a rebase. I run the tests afterwards, because code that merges cleanly can still be wrong.

Question 4

What is a branching strategy? Which one have you used?

Accepted Answer

A branching strategy is the team's rule for how branches are used. In trunk-based development everyone makes small, short-lived branches and merges into main often, with feature flags for unfinished work. GitFlow uses long-lived develop and release branches. For most CI/CD teams I prefer trunk-based or GitHub Flow: a feature branch, a pull request with review and CI checks, then merge to main, which deploys.

Question 5

What is .gitignore used for?

Accepted Answer

It lists files and folders Git should not track, such as node_modules, build output, log files, .env files with secrets, and IDE settings. It keeps the repo small and stops secrets being committed. If a file was already committed, adding it to .gitignore is not enough. I also need git rm --cached to stop tracking it.

Git interview questions