Git & GitHub Interview Question #75
What should you check before merging a pull request?
Undo & Recovery, Tags, Forks, Pull Requests & Code Review Mid-Level Intermediate
Quick Interview Answer
Confirm that the proposed change is correct, focused, reviewed, and compatible with the target branch. Required automated checks should pass, conflicts should be resolved, and any requested changes should be addressed.
Detailed Explanation
Confirm that the proposed change is correct, focused, reviewed, and compatible with the target branch. Required automated checks should pass, conflicts should be resolved, and any requested changes should be addressed.
Also consider tests, security implications, database or deployment effects, documentation, backward compatibility, and the repository's required merge strategy. A successful merge is not only about Git accepting the history; the resulting application should be safe to build and deploy.
Code Example
# Useful local checks before merge
git status
git fetch origin
git diff origin/main...HEAD
# Then run the project's build and test commands
# required by the repository.