Git : How to merge your silly little commits into one .

There are three kinds of git users . People who commits every single change ; People who wait and compile all the changes into one gigantic commit . And the last kind is the best kind , who commits in a responsible way. I used to be the first kind , but realized later it is annoying to the people who reviews my PR's . So i did some digging and as always git has the answer to almost all of your problems (May be not how to deal with a breakup with your girlfriend . In that case Git cannot help ya :( ) . So here is the thing , git has 2 helpful ways of dealing with this problem .

1. Using squash mechanism
2. Using good old git reset

Here is the scenario . Say if you made some commits with small changes like remove small space 1 , change variable name , remove space 2 . Later you realize the commits are kind of silly , you want all these commits to be merge into one called something like code cleanup .

Using squash for this problem a bit complex (not if you get used to it) . But it sort of gives you an overall idea on what is happening . This is how you do it .

Method 1 : Using squash mechanism

First of all make sure your master branch is up-to date with the related upstream branch . And say you are in a feature branch called , well feature-branch .

in your git bash , run this command git rebase -i master

you will get the vim interactive console and you will see all of your 3 commits listed

Here the process is simple . You can pick one commit which can be your parent commit  using pick, and the rest of the commits can be linked under this parent commit using squash command . Also you can change the order of the commits as well . So according to our scenario , we can do something like this ...

So yeah that is it . Just save and exit . And you will get another interactive console like below ..

You can just skip this window by just quitting without save or you can give new names to your commits . So here i am renaming the top most commit (which is my parent commit of all 3 commits) as Code cleanup . And again save and exit .. You will see something like below ..

That's it , you have successfully merge 3 of your silly commits into one commit which is going to make a better commit history for you . Now you can just use git push origin feature-branch --force to push your single commit to the remote repository .

Note : we are using --force because this process has changed the commit hashes . In any case , when you use force push , you need to absolutely make sure you know what you are doing .

If you go to your repository and view the commit history , you can see the squashed commits like this visualized in a different way ..

So that's how you squash your commits in Git . It is a bit time consuming process , but if you get used to it , it is very useful .

Method 2 : Using good old git reset

So unlike squashing your commits , you can easily merge your little commits into one using git reset command . It is really simple . Take the same scenario i have mentioned above . Now what you need is , Taking the HEAD position 3 commits back . By doing this you are resetting the last 3 commits .

git reset --soft HEAD~3

Now you have un-stage changes . All you need to do now is to put them into a single commit

git commit -m "Code cleanup"

Or better way , merge these 2 commands into one

git reset --soft HEAD~3 && git commit -m "Code cleanup"

There you go  ! That's it . now push --force to push the new commit into the remote repository . The same warning regarding force push applies here as well .

The awesome thing about these 2 methods is that you can change the commits even after you have pushed the changes into the remote repository . So don't worry , it is never too late with git .

more info on squashing can be found here

How to face software engineering internship interviews ?

I got the opportunity to do few interviews and mock interviews for the interns who were trying to get into the Industry as trainees . What i have noticed from the candidates are that they are extremely skillful , had good academic track records and some of them are very good at problem solving . However what i didn't see was the preparation to face an interview . When the most common questions were asked , i saw the lack of ability to tackle those questions mainly due to the absence of preparation . So i thought of writing few tips on how to tackle an internship interview.

How to face it better ?

First things first : You should prepare a small "about-yourself " description to introduce yourself to the interviewer . Because the first question would almost always be something like "Can you first tell us about yourself a bit" . This is something everyone easily messes-up  because it is so obvious !

Stick to the script : When you introduce yourself to the interviewers , make sure to keep it short and sweet . It should be relevant to the internship . For example after stating the basic information (name , age , where you live ) , go with your overall academic records , projects you have done , any important contributions you have done to the IT community (such as open-source contributions , tech publications) , any interesting hobbies and a bit about why you selected this field . You might not want to share your pet's name , what your parents doing for a living .

Bring a copied CV : This is important and is something always expected from a interviewee .

Loud and clear : Some people are naturally soft spoken . But when it comes to interviews you need to make sure what you are saying is delivered to the interviewer . If the interviewer had to ask you again and again for something , it will create a negative impression . It will also show you that you are not in cable of having a efficient communication .

Confidence and eye-contact : Don't bore your interviewer by acting slow and dull . Show your enthusiasm in your voice and always keep a good eye contact .

Be honest : When you are asked about something about your self , make  sure you give the correct details . If you are not being honest at that time and if the interviewer later found out that you gave out incorrect details , you are done .

About your projects : Always have a look at the overall information about your university projects and you need to prepare for this before coming to the interview . There will be a question like "Tell us about your university projects" , So in that case it is important that you know how to explain what you have done . You might have done several projects , in that case , select one . 3 things need to be said during this question.
           1. Project description (domain , techs used , overall system architecture)
           2. What is your contribution
           3. Problems faced and the assumptions made

Think out loud : You will be given some kind of problem/scenario where you are required to provide a solution . The solution might be some pseudocode/algorithm or some high-level system design . Sometimes what happens is that you think about a solution in your head without expressing it ,Which will result in a uncomfortable silence between you and the interviewer . In this case a pen and paper might come in handy . You can sketch it and show as to how you will approach the issue . So the interviewer will know you got the idea.

Keeping your self updated : When it comes to IT field , It is imperative that you know a bit about the latest techs and trends . So always keep your knowledge polished by readings blogs , magazines etc. Also having a basic knowledge about the company is a must . Go through the company's website , Facebook page , LinkedIn or another SM accounts and get an overall idea as a part of the preparation for the interview .

Social media profile : Having a LinkedIn profile is a good way of marketing your self for a job . Remember to include this in your CV . Also if you managed a blog , if you have a stackoverflow or a github account , share it with your interviewer . This will help him to understand your skills better.

Passion and Mission : Another obvious question is "How do you see yourself in n number of years" . Always prepare for this question before the interview . Also your plans should be relevant to the internship and the field . "I want to buy a car and go around the world" is wrong kind of answer !

Ask questions : Interviewer :" Do you have any questions to be asked from us ? " . Keep at least two questions prepared to ask at this point which also needs to be relevant to the context .
For Example :

•          What are the new projects are being developed by your company ?
•          How this place will help me to improve my career path ?
•          If i get selected , what projects would be assigned to me ? what kind of part would i play in the company/project ? 

Few things you shouldn't do ..

Asking personal questions : Interviews are for professionals so act like one.

Lying about the qualifications : If you have a 3.45 gpa, then it is what it is . Do not round it to 3.50. Always be honest.

Do not "build" answers : If you were asked about a technical question and if you don't know anything about it , do not try to build a fake answer just for the sake of it . Remember your interviewer knows his stuff . Lying about something you don't know is a waste of time and you will lose your integrity at the very moment .

Don't ask about the salary : In your first interview for internship , asking about the salary is probably not a good idea .