CPSA Risk Management and Technical Debt 2

Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

A formula for calculating the cost-benefit ratio of an architectural decision

Answer

A manual review process conducted by senior architects quarterly

Answer

A performance benchmark for measuring system throughput

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

Always address the oldest debt first, regardless of impact

Answer

Address the easiest debt first to build team confidence

Answer

Let developers choose which debt to fix based on personal preference

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

Systems grow in complexity proportional to the number of users

Answer

The cost of fixing a defect grows exponentially the later it is found

Answer

Performance degrades linearly as the number of components increases

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

A pattern for isolating security vulnerabilities in a legacy system

Answer

A monitoring strategy that detects performance degradation in production

Answer

A risk assessment framework for evaluating vendor lock-in

Question 5

Which of the following BEST describes 'architecture drift'?

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

Intentional migration of components to a new technology stack

Answer

The planned evolution of an architecture over several major releases

Answer

The movement of services between cloud regions for cost optimization

Question 6

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

To assign blame when a system fails in production

Answer

To document all known bugs in the current system

Answer

To calculate the total cost of ownership of the software

Question 7

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

Accepted Answer

By multiplying the probability of occurrence by the impact severity

Answer

By summing all identified risks regardless of probability

Answer

By averaging the team's subjective fear ratings for each risk

Answer

By counting the number of components affected by the risk