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Quiz

2988 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 areas2988 Architecture Fundamentals91 Distributed Systems111 Data Architecture100 Cloud Architecture97 Networking96 API & Integration Architecture97 Reliability & Resilience99 Observability92 Performance & Capacity Engineering100 Security Architecture105 Cost Architecture & FinOps102 Business Architecture103 Architecture Communication102 Enterprise Architecture100 Legacy Modernization102 AI-Era Architecture106 Software Architecture & Engineering93 Architecture Patterns94 Architecture Decision-Making101 The Architect's Meta-Skills102 Delivery & Release Engineering103 Platform Engineering & Developer Experience102 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

4 questions in Paved Roads.

  1. Paved Roads advanced

    A company builds an internal platform to standardise how services are created and operated across hundreds of teams. What should it enforce, what should it leave flexible, and how does it avoid becoming an obstacle?

    3 min answer mercado-librefuryinternal-platformgolden-path
  2. Paved Roads intermediate

    An organisation builds a paved road and half the teams build their own infrastructure anyway. What does the adoption gap indicate?

    2 min answer paved-roadadoptiondeveloper-experienceplatform
  3. Paved Roads advanced

    From 2011 the UK's Government Digital Service required central approval for departmental digital spending above a threshold (about £100,000, and zero for some categories such as public-facing websites) alongside a published service standard and assessments. By 2026 the GDS-run controls had been retired in favour of departmental ownership with a much higher pipeline threshold. What did controlling the money achieve that a standards document could not, and where would copying it be a mistake?

    4 min answer gdsgovernancefundingstandards
  4. Paved Roads intermediate

    How does a paved road achieve governance outcomes without a mandate, and what makes it fail?

    2 min answer paved-roadgovernanceadoptiondefaults