200-901 Software Development and Design Practice Question
Which THREE of the following are best practices when using Git for a collaborative project? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that committing directly to main is acceptable for small changes, but the exam emphasizes that all changes should go through feature branches to maintain a clean, reviewable history.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use feature branches for new work.
Option A is correct because feature branches isolate new work from the main branch, allowing changes to be developed, reviewed, and tested before integration, which reduces the risk of breaking shared code. Option B is correct because regularly rebasing or merging upstream changes keeps a feature branch current, minimizes large and painful merge conflicts, and ensures the work is built against the latest codebase. Option D is correct because descriptive commit messages document the intent and context of changes, making history easier to review, debug, and audit for collaborators. Option C is not a best practice in a collaborative project because committing directly to the main branch bypasses review and can destabilize the shared branch. Option E is not a best practice because avoiding pulls prevents developers from incorporating others' changes, leading to stale local work and more severe conflicts later.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use feature branches for new work.
Why this is correct
Feature branches isolate new work from the mainline, so unfinished or experimental changes never destabilise shared code. This satisfies the stem's collaborative best-practice requirement by enabling independent development and clean pull requests before merging into the shared branch.
- ✓
Rebase or merge regularly to incorporate upstream changes.
Why this is correct
Regular rebasing or merging pulls upstream commits into the local branch, preventing divergence that causes painful conflicts later. This satisfies the collaborative constraint by keeping each developer's work integrated with shared history, so pull requests apply cleanly.
- ✗
Commit directly to the main branch.
Why it's wrong here
Committing straight to main bypasses peer review and lets unreviewed or broken changes reach the shared branch. It is tempting on solo work where speed matters, but collaborative practice uses feature branches merged via pull requests, keeping main stable and reviewable.
- ✓
Write descriptive commit messages.
Why this is correct
Descriptive commit messages record why a change was made, not merely what changed, giving collaborators the context needed to review history and trace regressions. This satisfies the collaborative project constraint by making shared repository history self-documenting, so teammates can understand intent without asking the original author.
- ✗
Avoid pulling from remote to prevent conflicts.
Why it's wrong here
Skipping pulls lets the local branch diverge from remote, producing larger, harder conflicts and stale work. It is tempting when conflicts feel disruptive, yet regular pulling and rebasing keeps history linear and conflicts small, which is the collaborative best practice.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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