Software Developer key topics and quick reference

Updated 16 September 2026 · 2 min read

Developers draw on a set of facts every day: what a status code means, which Git command does what, and the vocabulary of development practice. The reference tables on this page gather those facts. The notes below explain how to learn them and how they connect when you build and maintain real applications.

How this guide was made

Written for this site with AI assistance, then checked automatically before publishing. The topic table, sample questions, worked examples and study plan are generated from this site’s question bank: each worked example is recalculated by separate code, and each sample answer says where it came from.

The guide deliberately states no salaries, grades, pass marks or exam dates. Those change, and they could not be checked here, so take them from the advert itself.

This site is independent and is not affiliated with MIFOTRA or any employer.

Where to spend your study time

The suggested emphasis reflects what this position works with day to day. It is a study guide, not a published exam blueprint.

Area	Suggested emphasis	Questions in the bank	Practise
Software development	56%	378	In the full bank
Cloud and emerging technology	22%	188	In the full bank
Cybersecurity	11%	541	Security
Linux command line	11%	360	In the full bank

Status codes tell a story

HTTP status codes are grouped by their first digit: 2xx for success, 3xx for redirection, 4xx for client errors and 5xx for server errors. Learning the groups first makes individual codes easier to remember and helps you debug an API quickly, since a 4xx points to the request and a 5xx to the server.

Quick reference

HTTP status codes

Code	Meaning
200	OK - the request succeeded
201	Created - the request succeeded and made a new resource
204	No Content - succeeded with nothing to return
301	Moved Permanently - the resource has a new permanent URL
302	Found - the resource is temporarily at a different URL
304	Not Modified - the cached copy is still valid
400	Bad Request - the server could not parse the request
401	Unauthorized - authentication is required or failed
403	Forbidden - authenticated but not allowed
404	Not Found - no resource at that URL
405	Method Not Allowed - wrong HTTP verb for this resource
409	Conflict - the request clashes with the current state
429	Too Many Requests - the client has been rate limited
500	Internal Server Error - the server failed unexpectedly
502	Bad Gateway - an upstream server returned an invalid response
503	Service Unavailable - the server is overloaded or down for maintenance
504	Gateway Timeout - an upstream server did not respond in time

Git commands

Command	What it does
`git clone`	copy a remote repository, including its history, to a new local directory
`git status`	show which files are staged, modified or untracked
`git add`	stage changes for the next commit
`git commit`	record the staged changes as a new commit
`git push`	send local commits to a remote repository
`git pull`	fetch from a remote and merge into the current branch
`git fetch`	download remote commits without merging them
`git branch`	list, create or delete branches
`git checkout`	switch branches or restore files in the working tree
`git merge`	join another branch’s history into the current one
`git rebase`	replay commits onto a new base, rewriting their history
`git log`	show the commit history
`git diff`	show changes between commits, the index and the working tree
`git stash`	set aside uncommitted changes and restore a clean working tree
`git revert`	create a new commit that undoes an earlier one
`git reset`	move the branch pointer, optionally changing the index and working tree

Software Development terms

Term	Meaning
API endpoint	A specific URL a client calls to reach one operation of a service
Big-O notation	A description of how an algorithm’s cost grows as the input grows
CI/CD	Automatically building, testing and releasing changes as they are merged
Compiler	A tool translating source code into machine code ahead of running it
Encapsulation	Keeping an object’s internal state private and exposing behaviour instead
Foreign key	A column referencing the primary key of another table
Inheritance	Deriving a class from another so it reuses and extends that behaviour
Integration test	A test exercising several components working together
JSON	A text format representing structured data as objects, arrays and primitives
Normalisation	Organising tables to remove redundancy and update anomalies
Primary key	A column whose value uniquely identifies each row in a table
Race condition	A defect where the result depends on the timing of concurrent work
Recursion	A function solving a problem by calling itself on a smaller case
Refactoring	Changing a program’s structure without changing what it does
REST	An architectural style using HTTP verbs and URLs to act on stateless resources
Stack	A last-in, first-out collection
Technical debt	The future cost of a shortcut taken in design or implementation
Unit test	A test exercising one small piece of code in isolation

Git as a safety net

Git commands matter because they let teams change code safely. Know how to create a branch, commit with a clear message, bring in changes from others, resolve a conflict and undo a mistake. Questions often ask which command fits a situation, such as updating a branch or reviewing history.

Development vocabulary

Terms such as refactoring, technical debt, idempotent, race condition and dependency injection come up in interviews, documentation and tests. Understanding them precisely helps you communicate with other developers.

Be ready to explain

The difference between 401 and 403.
What git rebase does compared with git merge.
Why an idempotent API operation is safer to retry.
What a race condition is, with a simple example.
Why technical debt slows a team down over time.

Common questions

Do I need to memorise all the HTTP status codes?

Learn the groups and the common codes well. Rarer codes can be looked up, but tests often include the common ones.

Which Git commands are most important?

The ones for everyday work: clone, status, add, commit, branch, switch or checkout, pull, push, merge and log.