CPA System Architecture & Design 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which architectural pattern separates an application into three interconnected components: model, view, and controller?
- MVP
- MVC (Correct answer)
- MVVM
- SOA
Correct answer: MVC
MVC (Model-View-Controller) divides an application into three components to separate concerns: the model handles data, the view handles display, and the controller handles input.
Question 2: In a microservices architecture, how do individual services typically communicate with each other?
- Shared memory
- Direct database access
- APIs over a network (REST or messaging) (Correct answer)
- Global variables
Correct answer: APIs over a network (REST or messaging)
Microservices communicate via well-defined APIs over a network, commonly using REST, gRPC, or asynchronous message queues, keeping services decoupled.
Question 3: What is the primary benefit of using a layered (n-tier) architecture?
- Maximizes raw performance
- Separates concerns so each layer has a distinct responsibility (Correct answer)
- Eliminates the need for a database
- Reduces the number of developers needed
Correct answer: Separates concerns so each layer has a distinct responsibility
Layered architecture organizes code into distinct tiers (e.g., presentation, business logic, data), making the system easier to maintain and modify independently.
Question 4: Which design principle states that a class should have only one reason to change?
- Open/Closed Principle
- Liskov Substitution Principle
- Single Responsibility Principle (Correct answer)
- Interface Segregation Principle
Correct answer: Single Responsibility Principle
The Single Responsibility Principle (SRP) states that a class should have only one responsibility, meaning only one reason to change.
Question 5: What does 'high cohesion' mean in the context of software module design?
- Modules are tightly coupled to each other
- Elements within a module are closely related and focused on a single task (Correct answer)
- The system has many inter-module dependencies
- Classes inherit from many parent classes
Correct answer: Elements within a module are closely related and focused on a single task
High cohesion means the responsibilities of a module are strongly related and focused, making the module easier to understand and maintain.
Question 6: Which architectural style is best described as a pipeline where each component transforms data and passes it to the next?
- Event-driven architecture
- Pipe-and-filter architecture (Correct answer)
- Service-oriented architecture
- Monolithic architecture
Correct answer: Pipe-and-filter architecture
Pipe-and-filter architecture processes data through a sequence of independent filter components connected by pipes, common in data transformation systems.
Question 7: In system design, what is a 'bottleneck'?
- A security vulnerability in the authentication layer
- A component or resource that limits the overall system throughput (Correct answer)
- A type of database normalization
- An interface between two incompatible systems
Correct answer: A component or resource that limits the overall system throughput
A bottleneck is a point in the system where the throughput is limited, causing the entire system to slow down regardless of other components' capacity.
CPA System Architecture & Design 2
Which architectural pattern separates an application into three interconnected components: model, view, and controller?