Git & Version Control Version Control Fundamentals Syllabus

Version Control Fundamentals syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Version Control Fundamentals in Git & Version Control, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introduction to Version Control

   4 topics

   • What Is Version Control
   • Local, Centralized, and Distributed Systems
   • Why Git
   • A Short History of Git
2. 2

   Installing and Configuring Git

   4 topics

   • Installing Git on Windows, macOS, and Linux
   • First-Time Git Setup
   • Configuration Levels
   • Getting Help
3. 3

   Git Internals and Data Model

   4 topics

   • The Three States
   • Git Objects
   • The .git Directory
   • References and HEAD
4. 4

   Git on the Command Line

   3 topics

   • The Shell and Terminal Basics
   • Aliases and Shortcuts
   • GUI Clients vs CLI

Version Control Fundamentals flashcards for Git & Version Control

20 of 51 cards from the Version Control Fundamentals deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What is version control?

   A system that records changes to a file or set of files over time so that you can recall specific versions later, revert files, compare changes, and see who modified what and when.

2. What is a Version Control System (VCS) primarily used to track in software development?

   Changes to source code (and other project files), enabling collaboration, history tracking, branching, and recovery of previous states.

3. Name three broad categories of version control systems.

   Local Version Control Systems (LVCS), Centralized Version Control Systems (CVCS), and Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS).

4. How does a Local Version Control System work, and what is a classic example?

   It keeps versions of files in a simple database on a single local machine (e.g., patch sets between versions). A classic example is RCS (Revision Control System).

5. What is the main weakness of a Local Version Control System?

   Everything is stored on one computer, so it does not support collaboration and a single disk failure can lose all history.

6. How does a Centralized Version Control System (CVCS) store data, and give examples.

   It has a single central server holding all versioned files; clients check out files from that central place. Examples include CVS, Subversion (SVN), and Perforce.

7. What is the biggest single point of failure in a Centralized VCS?

   The central server: if it goes down, no one can collaborate or save versioned changes, and if its disk is corrupted without backups, the entire project history can be lost.

8. How does a Distributed Version Control System (DVCS) differ from a centralized one?

   In a DVCS, clients fully mirror the repository including its complete history, so every clone is a full backup and most operations are local. Examples: Git and Mercurial.

9. Why does a DVCS offer better redundancy than a CVCS?

   Because every client has a full copy of the repository and its history, any client copy can restore the server, eliminating the single point of failure.

10. State three practical advantages of Git over centralized systems.

    Speed (most operations are local), full offline history and full backups on every clone, and cheap, fast branching and merging.

11. How does Git think about and store its data compared to older VCS tools?

    Git stores data as a series of snapshots of the entire filesystem, not as a list of file-based differences (deltas); unchanged files are stored as a reference to the previous identical file.

12. Why are nearly all Git operations fast and usable offline?

    Because the entire project history is stored locally, so operations like commit, diff, log, and branch do not require a network connection to a server.

13. What integrity mechanism does Git use so that content cannot be changed without Git knowing?

    Everything is checksummed (content-addressed) using a hash before it is stored, and it is referred to by that checksum; corruption or tampering is detectable.

14. Which hash algorithm does Git traditionally use for checksums, and what is its output length?

    SHA-1, which produces a 40-character hexadecimal string ($40$ hex characters = $160$ bits).

15. When and by whom was Git created?

    Git was created in 2005 by Linus Torvalds (with the Linux kernel development community) after the free use of the proprietary BitKeeper system ended.

16. List the original design goals that shaped Git in 2005.

    Speed, simple design, strong support for non-linear development (thousands of parallel branches), fully distributed, and able to handle very large projects like the Linux kernel efficiently.

17. How do you install Git on most Linux distributions using a package manager (Debian/Ubuntu vs. Fedora)?

    Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install git-all (or sudo apt install git). Fedora: sudo dnf install git-all.

18. How is Git typically installed on macOS?

    By installing the Xcode Command Line Tools (running git triggers the prompt, or xcode-select --install), or via a package manager such as Homebrew: brew install git.

19. How is Git installed on Windows?

    By downloading the official 'Git for Windows' installer from git-scm.com, which includes Git Bash; it can also be installed via winget or Chocolatey.

20. What command verifies that Git is installed and shows the version?

    git --version

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