AZ-400 Practice Question: Design and implement a source control strategy
This AZ-400 practice question tests your understanding of design and implement a source control strategy. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your team is using GitHub Flow for a web application. Developers create feature branches from main, make changes, and open pull requests. Recently, several pull requests were merged without required reviews because the branch protection rules were not enforced on the main branch. What should you do to ensure all pull requests to main require at least one reviewer?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable the 'Require a pull request before merging' rule in branch protection for main, and set 'Required approvals' to 1.
Option B is correct because branch protection rules in GitHub can enforce required pull request reviews before merging. Option A is incorrect because deleting the branch after merge does not enforce reviews. Option C is incorrect because require branches to be up to date is not the same as requiring reviews. Option D is incorrect because code owners are optional, not mandatory.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Enable the 'Require a pull request before merging' rule in branch protection for main, and set 'Required approvals' to 1.
Why this is correct
This enforces that pull requests require at least one approval before merging.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure the repository to automatically delete head branches after pull requests are merged.
Why it's wrong here
This cleans up branches but does not enforce reviews.
✗
Enable the 'Require branches to be up to date' rule in branch protection for main.
Why it's wrong here
This ensures branches are current but does not require reviews.
✗
Add a CODEOWNERS file and configure it so that every file has at least one owner.
Why it's wrong here
Code owners can be requested for review but are not mandatory unless branch protection requires their review.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-400 question in full detail.
Identify which AZ-400 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design and implement a source control strategy — This question tests Design and implement a source control strategy — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable the 'Require a pull request before merging' rule in branch protection for main, and set 'Required approvals' to 1. — Option B is correct because branch protection rules in GitHub can enforce required pull request reviews before merging. Option A is incorrect because deleting the branch after merge does not enforce reviews. Option C is incorrect because require branches to be up to date is not the same as requiring reviews. Option D is incorrect because code owners are optional, not mandatory.
What should I do if I get this AZ-400 question wrong?
Identify which AZ-400 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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