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Quiz

2868 questions of the kind that actually get asked — in interviews, in architecture review boards, and by the person who has to run the thing at 3 AM. Every answer states the trade-off rather than the slogan, and says when the obvious choice is the wrong one.

All areas2868 Architecture Fundamentals91 Distributed Systems101 Data Architecture90 Cloud Architecture87 Networking86 API & Integration Architecture87 Reliability & Resilience99 Observability92 Performance & Capacity Engineering90 Security Architecture95 Cost Architecture & FinOps92 Business Architecture93 Architecture Communication102 Enterprise Architecture100 Legacy Modernization92 AI-Era Architecture96 Software Architecture & Engineering93 Architecture Patterns94 Architecture Decision-Making101 The Architect's Meta-Skills102 Delivery & Release Engineering103 Platform Engineering & Developer Experience92 Testing & Quality Architecture102 Data Platform Architecture98 Streaming & Real-Time Data103 Data Governance & Semantics91 Frontend & Experience Architecture101 Edge, Mobile & IoT98 Regulatory & Data Protection Architecture99 Assurance, Audit & Model Risk98
Difficulty Any beginner intermediate advanced

2868 questions.

  1. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    A core system is reliable, undocumented and staffed by people close to retirement. What do you do first?

    2 min answer mainframeencapsulationstranglerskills
  2. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    An organisation must modernise a mainframe system running critical batch processes. What makes this harder than typical modernisation, and what approaches exist?

    2 min answer mainframebatchbusiness-rulesrisk
  3. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    Customer balances are served from a change-data-capture copy of a mainframe rather than from the mainframe itself. What happens, hour by hour, on the night the month-end close posts a large batch and the capture stream falls forty minutes behind?

    3 min answer mainframecdcoffloadstaleness
  4. Mainframe Modernization advanced Multiple choice

    Review this plan. A bank will move 80% of balance-enquiry reads off the mainframe onto a new store fed by change data capture. The nightly batch that posts interest and produces statements stays where it is for three more years. The business case is built on the licence saving. One reviewer says the headline saving will not appear. Which objection is correct?

    3 min answer mainframeoffloadlicensingcapacity
  5. Mainframe Modernization advanced

    You must modernise a mainframe application with no documentation and one remaining expert who retires in nine months. Where do you start?

    2 min answer legacymodernizationknowledgerisk
  6. Managed Services intermediate

    A platform distributes very large model and dataset artefacts to a global developer community, with a small number of artefacts accounting for most downloads. Which parts should be managed services, and which are worth building?

    2 min answer managed-servicescdnartefact-distributionbuild-vs-buy
  7. Managed Services intermediate

    A startup must decide between building infrastructure internally and adopting managed services. What should the evaluation actually weigh?

    2 min answer supabasemanaged-servicesbuild-vs-buytco
  8. Managed Services advanced

    A team wants to self-manage Kafka on Kubernetes to save money against the managed service. Evaluate.

    2 min answer managed-servicestcooperations
  9. Managed vs Self-Managed intermediate

    A platform runs several self-managed stateful systems. What evidence should decide whether to move to managed services?

    2 min answer managed-servicesoperational-costceilingpinterest
  10. Managed vs Self-Managed intermediate

    A team is deciding whether to keep using a managed service or bring it in-house. What trigger should govern the decision, and what asymmetry usually settles it?

    2 min answer supabasemanagedbuild-vs-buytco
  11. Managed vs Self-Managed intermediate

    A team is deciding whether to run a database, broker or search engine itself or to use a managed service. What actually drives the decision, and which arguments are usually wrong?

    2 min answer managed-servicesoperationscostcontrol
  12. Managed vs Self-Managed intermediate

    Under what circumstances would you self-manage a message broker rather than use a managed service, and how would you justify it?

    2 min answer managed-servicestcooperationsjustification