CPSA CPSA Integration and Interfaces Questions and Answers 2

Question 1

What is the primary architectural advantage of using an API gateway in a microservices system?

Accepted Answer

It provides a single entry point for clients, centralizing cross-cutting concerns like authentication, rate limiting, and routing

Answer

An API gateway centralizes cross-cutting concerns at the system boundary, shielding clients from the complexity of the internal service topology.

Question 2

Which pattern addresses the problem of cascading failures when one service in an integration chain becomes slow or unavailable?

Accepted Answer

Circuit Breaker pattern

Answer

The Circuit Breaker pattern detects repeated failures and short-circuits calls to the failing service, preventing cascade failures across the system.

Question 3

In REST API design, what does 'HATEOAS' enable in terms of system integration?

Accepted Answer

Clients discover available actions dynamically from hypermedia links in responses, reducing client-server coupling

Answer

HATEOAS (Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State) lets clients navigate an API by following links in responses rather than hardcoding URLs.

Question 4

What is the 'strangler fig' pattern used for in integration architecture?

Accepted Answer

Incrementally migrating a legacy system by routing functionality to a new system piece by piece

Answer

The Strangler Fig pattern wraps a legacy system and progressively replaces its capabilities, allowing migration without a risky big-bang rewrite.

Question 5

When designing an interface contract, what is the importance of versioning strategy?

Accepted Answer

It allows interfaces to evolve without breaking existing consumers, enabling independent deployment of providers and consumers

Answer

A clear versioning strategy lets providers evolve interfaces while consumers migrate at their own pace, avoiding forced synchronous deployments.

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