Full-Stack Development Research & Evidence-Based Practice 4

Question 1

A team measures API response time using arithmetic mean. A load test reveals occasional 10-second spikes hidden by the average. Which metric better captures this?

Accepted Answer

95th or 99th percentile latency

Answer

High percentile latency (p95, p99) surfaces tail latencies that hurt user experience but are masked by averaging.

Question 2

When reviewing a peer's pull request, you notice a new algorithm lacks any cited source for its correctness. What is the best evidence-based response?

Accepted Answer

Request either a proof sketch, a reference to a well-known algorithm, or test coverage for edge cases

Answer

Correctness evidence—whether a proof, authoritative reference, or comprehensive edge-case tests—reduces the risk of subtle bugs in algorithmic code.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of survivorship bias in evaluating development frameworks?

Accepted Answer

Concluding a framework is reliable because successful companies use it, ignoring the many that failed with it

Answer

Survivorship bias occurs when we only see successful outcomes; companies that failed with the same framework are rarely visible in public discourse.

Question 4

A startup claims their new database achieves '10x faster writes than Postgres.' What detail is MOST critical to evaluate this claim?

Accepted Answer

The workload type, dataset size, hardware configuration, and Postgres version used in the benchmark

Answer

Benchmark validity depends entirely on whether the test conditions match your use case; without methodology details, the number is meaningless.

Question 5

What does 'dogfooding' mean in the context of evidence-based development?

Accepted Answer

A team using their own product internally to discover issues before external release

Answer

Dogfooding generates internal evidence about real usability and reliability issues before customers encounter them.

Full-Stack Development Practice Test

Full-Stack Development Practice Test

Full-Stack Development Research & Evidence-Based Practice 4