Full-Stack Development Research & Evidence-Based Practice 5

Question 1

A senior developer argues against writing tests because 'we've always shipped without them.' This reasoning is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Appeal to tradition (argumentum ad antiquitatem)

Answer

Appeal to tradition mistakes historical practice for evidence of correctness, ignoring whether the outcome would have been better with the alternative.

Question 2

Which method is most appropriate for discovering unknown usability problems in a new web application before its first major release?

Accepted Answer

Moderated usability testing with representative users performing realistic tasks

Answer

Moderated usability testing with actual representative users surfaces problems that internal testers—familiar with the system—systematically miss.

Question 3

When adopting a new security practice based on an industry report, what should a developer verify about the report's evidence?

Accepted Answer

The sample size, industries studied, methodology, and whether it was independently audited or sponsored by a vendor

Answer

Vendor-sponsored reports and those with undisclosed methodologies or small samples can introduce significant bias into security recommendations.

Question 4

A developer wants to measure the business impact of reducing page load time. What metric most directly connects performance to business outcomes?

Accepted Answer

Bounce rate and conversion rate correlated with load time segments

Answer

Correlating user behavior metrics (bounce, conversion) with load time segments directly links performance improvements to revenue-relevant outcomes.

Question 5

A post-mortem analysis after a production outage should prioritize which approach?

Accepted Answer

Blameless root cause analysis focused on systemic and process failures

Answer

Blameless post-mortems focus on process and system failures rather than individual blame, producing actionable improvements and psychological safety.

Full-Stack Development Practice Test

Full-Stack Development Practice Test

Full-Stack Development Research & Evidence-Based Practice 5