Lesson 01 · Quiz Night

The README
Quiz

30 questions across 4 rounds. Click to reveal. Round 1 is the lesson content — Rounds 2–4 are general knowledge to keep things spicy. No scoring, just honest self-checking.

30
Questions
4
Rounds
~20
Minutes
0
Revealed
Progress 0 / 30
Round 01 · The Lesson

README & Markdown

15 questions on what we covered in the deck. If you can answer these, the lesson stuck.

01
What does the file extension .md stand for?
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Markdown. A lightweight formatting syntax used to style plain text. Platforms like GitHub automatically render Markdown into formatted HTML when you view a .md file.

💡 Created by John Gruber in 2004 to be readable as both source code and rendered output.
02
Where in a project's folder structure should the README file live?
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The root directory — the very top level of the project folder. This is where GitHub (and most platforms) automatically look for it to display on the repo's home page.

03
Why is the file traditionally written in ALL CAPS as README?
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To make it stand out visually in a directory listing. In older systems, files sorted alphabetically with capitals appearing first — so README would always sit at the top, screaming "open me first."

💡 The convention dates back to the 1970s with Unix software distributions.
04
Name three sections that should appear in almost every README.
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Any three of these are correct:

Title (clear project name)
Description (what it does, in 1–2 sentences)
Installation (how to set it up)
Usage (how to run it, with examples)

💡 If your README has nothing else, it should at minimum have these four.
05
What Markdown syntax creates a Heading 1?
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A single hash followed by a space: # Heading 1

Each additional hash decreases the heading level: ## for H2, ### for H3, all the way down to ###### for H6.

06
How do you make text bold in Markdown?
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Wrap the text in double asterisks: **bold text**

For italic, use single asterisks: *italic text*. For both, use triple: ***bold italic***.

07
What's the Markdown syntax for a hyperlink?
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[link text](https://example.com)

Square brackets hold the visible text, parentheses hold the URL. For images, prefix with an exclamation mark: ![alt text](image.png)

08
True or false: A README is only useful for open-source projects.
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False. READMEs are equally valuable for personal projects, internal company tools, freelance client work, and even private experiments. Future You will thank Past You for writing one.

💡 In 6 months you'll forget how your own project works. The README is your memory.
09
Name two things that visually beat a wall of text in a README.
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Any two of:

Screenshots showing the UI
Animated GIFs demonstrating features
Code blocks with copy-paste examples
Badges for status, version, build, license
Diagrams for architecture or flow

💡 Show, don't tell. A 5-second GIF often replaces three paragraphs.
10
What's a "badge" in the context of a README?
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A small image — usually rectangular — that displays project metadata at a glance. Common badges show build status, version number, code coverage, license type, or downloads.

Most are generated from shields.io, which lets you create custom or live-updating badges for free.

11
What's the difference between a README and a wiki?
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A README is a single file giving a high-level overview — what, why, and how to start.

A wiki is multi-page documentation for deeper topics: detailed guides, API references, troubleshooting, FAQs.

💡 Rule of thumb: if your README is getting too long, move sections into a wiki and link to them.
12
When should you write the README — at the start, during, or after the project?
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During. Writing it as you build forces clearer thinking and stops the dreaded "I'll do it later" (which becomes never).

Some developers even write the README first — known as README-driven development — to define what they're actually trying to build before writing any code.

13
Why might a recruiter judge a developer's portfolio by their README quality?
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Because the README is often the first and only thing they read before deciding whether to look at the code. A polished README signals:

— Communication skills
— Attention to detail
— Professionalism
— Care about the developer experience of others

💡 A great README on a portfolio repo can outweigh a mediocre CV.
14
What does a "License" section in a README do?
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It tells other people what they're legally allowed to do with your code — use it, modify it, redistribute it, sell it, or some combination.

Common licenses: MIT (permissive), Apache 2.0 (permissive + patent protection), GPL (copyleft, must remain open).

💡 Without a license, technically nobody is allowed to use your code legally — even if it's public.
15
What's the single biggest mistake you can make with a README?
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Not writing one. Closely followed by writing one and never updating it.

An outdated README is arguably worse than no README — it actively misleads people. If you change how the project installs, runs, or behaves, update the README in the same commit.

💡 If the README lies, the project lies. Treat it like part of the code, not separate from it.
Round 02 · Warm-Up

Web & Tech Trivia

A bit of history about the world that made the web. Five questions to stretch your brain in a different direction.

16
Who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web — and at which European research lab?
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland.

He wrote the original proposal in 1989, and the first website went live in 1991.

💡 The original purpose? Helping CERN physicists share research documents. Not exactly cat videos.
17
What does HTTP stand for?
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HyperText Transfer Protocol.

It's the language browsers and servers use to talk to each other. The S in HTTPS stands for Secure — the same protocol, encrypted.

18
What was Google originally called when it was a Stanford research project in 1996?
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BackRub. Named for its method of analysing the web's back-links — which pages link to which — to rank importance.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin renamed it Google in 1997, a play on googol (the number 1 followed by 100 zeros).

💡 "BackRub.com" would have been a very different brand.
19
Which 1993 web browser was the first to display images inline with text — popularising the visual web?
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NCSA Mosaic, developed at the University of Illinois.

Before Mosaic, images had to open in a separate window. Mosaic's team went on to create Netscape Navigator, which dominated the 1990s browser wars.

20
In a URL like https://example.com/path, what is the part before the colon called?
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The scheme (sometimes called the protocol).

Common schemes: https, http, mailto, ftp, file. The scheme tells your browser how to fetch what comes after.

💡 The full anatomy: scheme :// host / path ? query # fragment
Round 03 · Mixed Bag

General Knowledge

A bit of everything. Pub-quiz classics — geography, science, art, and one for the animal lovers.

21
How many bones are in the adult human body?
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206.

Babies are born with around 270 — many fuse together as we grow. More than half of all your bones live in your hands and feet.

22
What is the largest planet in our solar system?
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Jupiter. Big enough to fit every other planet inside it — twice over.

Its Great Red Spot is a storm wider than Earth, and it's been raging for at least 350 years.

23
Who painted the Mona Lisa?
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Leonardo da Vinci, between roughly 1503 and 1519.

It lives in the Louvre in Paris, behind bulletproof glass. The painting is surprisingly small — about 77 cm tall.

💡 It only became globally famous after being stolen in 1911 — and the press coverage made it the world's most recognisable painting.
24
What is the chemical symbol for gold?
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Au — from the Latin aurum, meaning "shining dawn."

Many element symbols come from Latin names: Fe for iron (ferrum), Pb for lead (plumbum), Na for sodium (natrium).

25
What is the only mammal capable of true, sustained flight?
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The bat. Flying squirrels and sugar gliders only glide — bats actually fly, with powered, flapping wings.

There are over 1,400 species, making up roughly a fifth of all mammal species on Earth.

Round 04 · Local Legends

Australia & Perth

Home turf. Five questions about the country you're sitting in and the city you're sitting in right now.

26
What is the name of the river that runs through the centre of Perth?
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The Swan River. Named in 1697 by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, after the black swans he saw on it — the first Europeans had ever seen.

The Whadjuk Noongar name is Derbarl Yerrigan.

27
In what year did Australia federate to become a single nation?
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1 January 1901. The six colonies — including Western Australia — joined to form the Commonwealth of Australia.

WA was the last to vote yes, joining only after a referendum the year before.

28
What is the world's longest fence — built across Australia in the 1880s?
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The Dingo Fence (also called the Dog Fence). Around 5,614 km long, stretching from Queensland through NSW into South Australia.

It was built to keep dingoes out of fertile sheep grazing country in the south-east. It's roughly twice the length of the Great Wall of China's main run.

29
Which Perth landmark is a copper-clad bell tower on the Swan River foreshore, opened in 2001?
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The Bell Tower (sometimes called the Swan Bell Tower).

It houses the bells of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London — gifted to WA for Australia's bicentenary in 1988. Some of those bells date back to the 14th century.

30
What is the time difference between Perth and Sydney during standard (non-daylight-saving) time?
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Two hours. Perth is on AWST (UTC+8), Sydney is on AEST (UTC+10).

When the eastern states switch to daylight saving in October, the gap widens to three hours — which is why every Perth dev knows to double-check meeting times with the east coast.

💡 WA voted against daylight saving four separate times. We like our long evenings the way they are.

Nice work.

You've revealed all 30 answers across 4 rounds. Now write a great README for your next project — and remember: write it as you build, not after. (And if anyone asks who painted the Mona Lisa, you've got that covered too.)