Git Top Interview Question by Top Companies (Part3) 2023

How do you contribute to open-source projects on GitHub?

Contributing to open-source projects on GitHub is a great way to give back to the open-source community and improve your skills. Here's the general process for contributing to open-source projects on GitHub:

Find a project that you are interested in: Browse the GitHub repository or use the GitHub search function to find a project that you are interested in contributing to.

Fork the repository: Use the "Fork" button on GitHub to create a copy of the repository under your own GitHub account. This creates a fork of the repository that you can work on and make changes to.

Clone the repository: Use the "git clone" command to create a local copy of the repository on your computer.

Create a new branch: Use the "git branch" command to create a new branch for your changes. This is a best practice to keep your changes separate from the main branch of the repository.

Make your changes: Make the changes to the code that you want to contribute. Make sure to follow the project's code style and guidelines.

Commit your changes: Use the "git commit" command to save your changes with a meaningful message.

Push your changes: Use the "git push" command to push your changes to your fork on GitHub.

Create a pull request: On GitHub, navigate to your fork of the repository and use the "Pull Request" button to create a pull request for your changes. This will notify the maintainers of the repository that you have changes that you would like to contribute.

Wait for feedback: The maintainers of the repository will review your changes and provide feedback. They may request changes or accept the pull request.

It's a good practice to communicate with the maintainers of the repository and read the contribution guidelines before making your changes, to understand the development process of the project and make sure that your changes fit into the project's goals.

It's also worth noting that contributing to open-source projects is not only about writing code, it also involves things like documentation, testing, bug reporting, and user support. There are many ways to contribute to open-source projects, and every contribution is valuable.

How do you keep your fork in sync with the original repository?

Keeping your fork in sync with the original repository is important to ensure that you have the latest changes and to be able to contribute to the project. Here's the general process for keeping your fork in sync with the original repository:

Add the original repository as a remote:

Use the command

"git remote add upstream [original repository URL]" to add the original repository as a remote to your local copy of the repository. This allows you to fetch changes from the original repository.

Fetch changes from the original repository: Use the command

"git fetch upstream" to fetch the latest changes from the original repository.

Merge the changes:

Use the command

"git merge upstream/[branch]" to merge the changes from the original repository into your local copy of the repository. This will update your local copy of the repository with the latest changes from the original repository.

Push the changes to your fork:

Use the command "git push" to push the changes to your fork on GitHub.

Repeat the process regularly: It's a good practice to repeat this process regularly to ensure that your fork is always in sync with the original repository.

It's also worth noting that it's a good practice to keep your pull requests up to date with the main repository, you can use the command "git rebase upstream/[branch]" to update your branch with the latest changes from the main repository before making a pull request, this will make it easier for the maintainers to review your code and merge it.

It's also important to keep in mind that if you have made changes on your fork that you haven't pushed yet, you should stash your changes before merging or rebasing, and apply them again later to avoid conflicts.