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Risk Management and Technical Debt Flashcards

7 cards from real CPSA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Risk Management and Technical Debt flashcards as text

  1. What is an Architecture Fitness Function as described by Ford, Parsons, and Kua?

    Answer: An automated check that verifies whether the system continues to meet a specific architectural characteristic

    Fitness functions are automated tests or checks that continuously verify that the architecture conforms to defined characteristics, catching erosion early.

  2. How should an architect PRIORITIZE which technical debt to address first?

    Answer: Address debt that poses the highest risk to quality attributes and is in frequently changed areas

    Prioritizing debt in hot spots — code areas that change frequently and carry high risk — maximizes the return on debt repayment effort.

  3. What does Conway's Law state, and why is it relevant to architectural risk?

    Answer: Organizations tend to design systems that mirror their own communication structures, creating a risk of misaligned architecture

    Conway's Law warns that team communication structures shape the architecture, so poor organizational design can become an architectural risk.

  4. What is the Strangler Fig pattern and how does it relate to managing architectural risk?

    Answer: A refactoring technique where new functionality is built alongside a legacy system until the old system can be safely retired

    The Strangler Fig pattern reduces the risk of replacing legacy systems by gradually migrating functionality to a new system while the old one continues to operate.

  5. Which of the following BEST describes 'architecture drift'?

    Answer: A gradual unplanned deviation from intended architectural decisions due to local developer choices

    Architecture drift occurs when developers make local decisions that cumulatively move the system away from the intended design without explicit approval.

  6. What is the primary purpose of conducting an architectural risk assessment?

    Answer: To identify and prioritize uncertainties that could prevent the architecture from meeting its goals

    Architectural risk assessments proactively surface and rank uncertainties so architects can address them before they become critical failures.

  7. In a risk matrix, how is overall risk level typically determined?

    Answer: By multiplying the probability of occurrence by the impact severity

    Risk level = Probability × Impact; this formula gives a prioritized ranking so teams can focus effort on high-probability, high-impact risks first.