GitHub Foundations Exam: Pass It With This Book

A deep dive into the GitHub Foundations Certification Guide and whether this beginner exam is worth your time in 2025.

I still remember the first time I tried to explain Git to a friend who was just starting out in data analysis. I said something like, “Imagine you’re writing a book with three co-authors, but instead of passing Word documents around, you’ve got a magical notebook that saves every edit, lets you branch off into alternate storylines, and then merge them back without chaos.” He nodded… politely. But in reality? He was lost.

That’s why when I picked up Ayodeji Ayodele’s GitHub Foundations Certification Guide, it felt like a breath of fresh air. This book doesn’t just teach you the buttons to click — it frames Git and GitHub in ways that beginners can actually grasp. And if you’re thinking about getting the GitHub Foundations certification, this is basically your roadmap.

This is me holding the book. Can you guess which anime the shirt I’m wearing is referencing?

GitHub Foundations Certification

What’s This Book All About?

The book is positioned as a study guide for the GitHub Foundations Certification exam, but honestly, it’s more than that. It’s like a starter kit for anyone who wants to go from “I kind of know GitHub exists” to “I can actually use it with confidence in a team setting.”

Here’s the gist:

Part 1: Git and GitHub Essentials

Part 1 lays the groundwork with Git basics — commits, branches, merges, the stuff that feels scary at first but is broken down with analogies (like recipes and timelines) that actually make sense. The chapters:

• Chapter 1: Introduction to Version Control with Git
  This chapter lays the groundwork by introducing the fundamental concepts of version control and its critical role in software development. It explains what Git is, why it’s the industry standard, and how it enhances coding efficiency and collaboration. You’ll delve into the basics of version control systems, understand the benefits of using version control (like granular history, accountability, and rollbacks), and explore the challenges faced without it. The chapter also provides an overview of Git, its distributed nature, and essential Git commands, including setting up a repository and configuring user identity.
• Chapter 2: Navigating the GitHub Interface
  This chapter transitions from Git to GitHub, explaining what GitHub is and its core functionalities. You’ll learn about GitHub’s offerings, including different account types (Individual, Organization, Enterprise), repository types (Public, Internal, Private), and various plans and pricing. The chapter guides you through the GitHub interface, including navigating the dashboard, understanding core features like Repos, Issues, Pull Requests, Projects, Actions, Copilot, and Codespaces, and exploring other GitHub tools and features like GitHub Desktop, Mobile, and CLI.
• Chapter 3: Repository Creation and Management
  This chapter focuses on the practical aspects of working with GitHub repositories. You’ll learn about repository naming conventions, initializing repositories with README and .gitignore files, and choosing appropriate licenses. The chapter includes a lab on creating a blank repository and cloning it to your local machine using VS Code, as well as committing changes into Git. It also covers the Markdown language and GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) for formatting text, creating lists, and embedding images. Finally, it delves into repository settings and management, including branch management, managing issues and pull requests, and security and access control.
• Chapter 4: Basic Git Commands and Workflows
  Building upon the previous chapters, this section dives deeper into intermediate Git commands and flags. You’ll learn about common Git commands for setting up repositories, making changes, and committing them. The chapter explains commands for staging and committing changes, fetching from remote repositories, cloning, downloading, and pushing changes. It also covers linking local Git repos to remote repos, creating new branches, switching between branches, and merging changes. The chapter includes sections on Git workflows (Git Flow, GitHub Flow, Trunk-based development) and troubleshooting common issues like merge conflicts and detached HEAD states.

The Gitflow Workflow. Image created by me.

The GitHub Flow Workflow. Image created by me.

Part 2: Collaborative Development on GitHub

Part 2 moves into collaborative development: pull requests, issues, projects, and even GitHub Actions (yes, you’ll get your first taste of automation here). The chapters:

• Chapter 5: Branching and Merging Strategies
  This chapter focuses on advanced collaboration techniques within Git and GitHub, specifically branching and merging. You’ll learn about understanding branches in Git, creating branches using the Git command, GitHub website, and IDEs. The chapter emphasizes naming conventions and best practices for branches, switching between branches, and preserving uncommitted changes. It also details merging and conflict resolution, including different types of merges (merge commit, squash merge, rebase merge) and how to perform them. Branch protection rules on GitHub are also covered, along with targeting branches and configuring the default branch.
• Chapter 6: Pull Requests and Code Reviews
  This chapter delves into the critical aspects of pull requests (PRs) and code reviews on GitHub, essential for maintaining code quality and fostering teamwork. You’ll learn what a pull request is, its lifecycle, and how to conduct effective code reviews. The chapter explains the importance of a diff in version control systems and provides good practices for writing clear descriptions in PRs. It covers the review process overview, including the roles of author, reviewers, and maintainers, and discusses integrating changes with confidence, including final checks before merging.
• Chapter 7: Issues, Projects, Labels, and Milestones
  This chapter focuses on GitHub’s project management tools, providing a guide to using issues, labels, and milestones to track progress and organize work within a team. You’ll learn about the introduction to issues, including their title, description, labels, assignees, and comments. The chapter covers creating and managing issues, using issue templates, and working with labels and milestones. It also introduces GitHub Projects, explaining its different versions (Classic and 2.0) and how they can be used for project management.
• Chapter 8: GitHub Actions and Automation
  This chapter introduces GitHub Actions as a powerful automation tool for CI/CD pipelines. You’ll learn about the key components of GitHub Actions, including workflows, events, jobs, steps, actions, and runners. The chapter explains how pipeline as code supports GitHub Actions and discusses events that trigger workflows. It covers setting up your first workflow, exploring the GitHub Actions Marketplace, and incorporating actions into your workflow. Best practices for creating workflows and implementing CI/CD practices with GitHub Actions are also discussed.
• Chapter 9: Engaging with the Community through GitHub Discussions
  This chapter explores GitHub Discussions as a tool for fostering developer communities and enhancing collaboration. You’ll learn about the introduction to GitHub Discussions, its threaded conversations, categories, and polls. The chapter covers starting a GitHub discussion, best practices for community engagement, and leveraging discussions for project feedback. It also discusses how to enable Discussions in a repository, create categories, and start new discussion threads, along with examples of public GitHub discussions.

Screenshot from the book. Cross-section of next.js Discussion forum.

Part 3: Leveraging GitHub for Career Advancement

Part 3 shifts gears to career growth — building a portfolio on GitHub, contributing to open source, and even using GitHub Sponsors to fund your work. The chapters:

• Chapter 10: Building and Showcasing Your GitHub Presence
  This chapter focuses on leveraging GitHub for career advancement by building and showcasing a strong GitHub presence. You’ll learn how to craft a professional GitHub profile, optimize your username, display name, and profile picture, and include contact information. The chapter covers showcasing projects and contributions, selecting the right projects, documenting them, and highlighting contributions. It also delves into utilizing GitHub Pages for personal branding, creating content, SEO and analytics, and continuous improvement of your GitHub Pages site.

Sample GitHub profile showing the details of yours truly.

Sample contribution graph and activity overview of yours truly.

• Chapter 11: Contributing to Open Source Projects
  This chapter guides you through navigating the open-source landscape, identifying suitable projects, and understanding open-source licensing. You’ll learn about the benefits of contributing to open-source projects, including skill development and gaining visibility. The chapter covers finding the right projects using GitHub’s Explore feature and searching by language or topic. It also discusses evaluating project activity and community engagement, joining open-source communities, and engaging with project maintainers. A lab on forking a repository and a complete contribution workflow is included.
• Chapter 12: Enhancing Development with GitHub Copilot
  This chapter explores GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered coding assistant that enhances development workflows. You’ll learn about its introduction, setup, and effective usage. The chapter discusses GitHub Copilot’s capabilities, including code completion, conversational coding (Copilot Chat), autonomous coding agents, and code reviews. It covers different Copilot plans, LLM models, and how to choose the right AI model for your work. The chapter also explains how Copilot integrates with IDEs, the command line, and GitHub.com UI, and discusses Copilot Spaces and Copilot Agents.
• Chapter 13: Funding Your Projects with GitHub Sponsors
  This chapter focuses on securing financial support for your open-source projects through GitHub Sponsors. You’ll learn about the introduction to GitHub Sponsors, its benefits, and eligibility criteria. The chapter guides you through setting up your sponsorship profile, defining sponsorship tiers, and setting up payment methods. It also covers promoting your sponsorship profile and engaging effectively with your sponsors through transparency, providing value, and building long-term relationships.

Part 4: Advanced GitHub and Exam Preparation

Part 4 ties it all together with security, project management, mock exams, and certification prep. The chapters:

• Chapter 14: Project Management with GitHub Projects
  This chapter delves into GitHub Projects, a versatile tool for project management within the GitHub ecosystem. You’ll learn about introducing GitHub Projects, their different layouts (Board, Table, Roadmap), and how to create and customize project boards. The chapter covers adding and managing cards, modifying visible fields, and filtering and sorting. It also discusses automating project workflows using built-in automations, GitHub Actions, and the REST API, as well as integrating projects with issues and milestones.

Screenshot from the book. Board layout in GitHub Projects.

• Chapter 15: Security Practices and User Management
  This chapter explores the essentials of GitHub security and user management, focusing on protecting your work and repositories. You’ll learn about GitHub’s built-in security features, including two-factor authentication (2FA) and its available methods. The chapter covers managing access and permissions, including user roles and team management. It also delves into branch protection rules, security configurations, and automated security tools like Dependabot and code scanning. Best practices for repository security and incident response and recovery are also discussed.

Screenshot from the book. Security Overview at the organization level.

• Chapter 16: Mock Exams and Study Strategies
  This chapter is dedicated to preparing you for the GitHub Foundations Certification exam. It covers areas of concentration, what to expect in the exam, and provides mock exam questions with answers and references to relevant sections in the book. The chapter also discusses nuances of buttons and icons, the GenAI evolution, multiple-answer questions, GitHub gists and wikis, and the importance of GitHub Docs as a study resource.

Screenshot from the book. GitHub Docs is very resourceful.

• Chapter 17: Preparing for the Certification
  This final chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the GitHub Foundations certification exam. It breaks down the exam structure, objective domains, and their respective exam percentages. You’ll learn about the target audience for the certification, preparation strategies, study resources, hands-on practice, mock exams, and exam registration. The chapter also outlines exam-day requirements (test center and online), identity requirements, exam accommodations, and offers valuable top tips for success.

Hands-On, Not Just Theory

One of my favorite parts? The labs.

For example, in Chapter 1 you’re not just reading about Git commits — you’re actually creating a repo, adding files, and making your first commit. Later on, you’ll create GitHub Actions workflows, manage pull requests, and even spin up a GitHub Pages site to showcase your portfolio.

This is huge, because let’s face it: you don’t learn GitHub by reading alone. You learn it by messing up a merge conflict at 2 a.m. and figuring out how to fix it. This book gives you safe, guided mini-disasters so you can practice without breaking production code.

How It Helps Beginners (Like You, Maybe)

If you’re a junior data analyst, ML engineer, data engineer, or software developer, this book does three important things:

1. Demystifies the basics. You’ll finally understand the difference between Git and GitHub (spoiler: Git is the engine, GitHub is the carpool lane).
2. Teaches collaboration the right way. Branching, pull requests, code reviews — these are skills that will save you headaches in your first team project.
3. Adds career firepower. The certification might not be a golden ticket, but putting “GitHub Foundations Certified” on your resume signals that you know how modern teams actually work.

My Honest Take: The Good and the “Could Be Better”

What I loved:

• The analogies — seriously, calling version control a recipe book? Genius.
• The flow — from basics to advanced, you never feel thrown into the deep end.
• The career angle — too many technical books stop at the “how.” This one also asks, “So how do you showcase this on your profile and get noticed?”

What could be better:

• Some labs assume you’re comfortable with the command line. If you’re brand new, you might need to pause and Google basic shell navigation.
• It covers a lot of GitHub features (Copilot, Sponsors, etc.). That’s awesome, but it can feel like drinking from the firehose if your only goal is the certification.

Final Thoughts

If you’re new to GitHub and want to:

• Build confidence with Git basics,
• Collaborate effectively in real-world projects,
• Or prepare for the GitHub Foundations Certification exam,

then this book is absolutely worth your time. Think of it as your training wheels for GitHub — steady, structured, and designed to get you riding on your own.

Will the certification itself land you a six-figure job? Probably not. But will the skills and confidence from working through this guide make you a stronger candidate and teammate? Absolutely.

💬 Over to you: Have you thought about taking the GitHub Foundations Certification? Or are you just trying to stop dreading merge conflicts? Drop your thoughts — I’d love to hear how you’re using GitHub in your learning journey.

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