git stash to save changes - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of git stash list after stashing changes?

You have modified files in your git repository. You run git stash to save your changes temporarily. What will git stash list show immediately after?

Git

git stash

git stash list

A stash@{0}: WIP on main: <commit-hash> Your last commit message

B No stash entries found.

C fatal: No stash found.

D Error: stash command not recognized.

💡 Hint

Think about what git stash does and how git stash list displays saved stashes.

After running git stash, your changes are saved as a stash entry. git stash list shows this entry with a name like stash@{0} and the commit it is based on.

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

What happens to your working directory after running git stash?

You have uncommitted changes in your working directory. You run git stash. What is the state of your working directory immediately after?

A Working directory is partially cleaned; only staged changes are saved.

B Changes remain in the working directory but are also saved in stash.

C Changes are deleted permanently from the working directory and stash.

D All changes are saved and the working directory is clean, matching the last commit.

💡 Hint

Consider what stash means: saving changes temporarily and cleaning your workspace.

git stash saves all your uncommitted changes and resets your working directory to match the last commit, so it becomes clean.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Which sequence of commands correctly saves changes and then applies them back?

You want to save your current changes temporarily and later bring them back. Which command sequence does this correctly?

A

git stash create
...
git stash drop

B

git stash
...
git stash apply

C

git stash save
...
git stash pop

D

git stash store
...
git stash branch

💡 Hint

Remember the basic commands to save and reapply stashed changes.

git stash saves changes, and git stash apply reapplies them without removing the stash entry.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

What error occurs if you run git stash apply with no stashes saved?

You run git stash apply but you never saved any stash before. What error message will git show?

Git

git stash apply

A No stash found.

B fatal: You do not have the initial commit yet

C fatal: bad revision 'stash@{0}'

D error: Your local changes to the following files would be overwritten by merge

💡 Hint

Think about what happens when git tries to apply a stash that does not exist.

If no stash exists, git stash apply tries to apply stash@{0} but fails with fatal: bad revision 'stash@{0}'.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Which command safely saves changes including untracked files?

You want to stash your changes but also include new untracked files. Which command should you use?

A git stash push -u

B git stash save --include-untracked

C git stash apply --all

D git stash store --untracked

💡 Hint

Look for the modern command to stash including untracked files.

git stash push -u stashes both tracked and untracked files safely. The older git stash save is deprecated and does not support this flag.