Microservices, REST, Containers, and Serverless Architecture Concepts

What is a monolithic architecture?

A single unified unit where all processes are tightly coupled and deployed together

What is a microservices architecture?

A collection of smaller, independently deployable services, each performing a single function and communicating via lightweight APIs

How is data handled in monolithic applications?

A single centralized database (often normalized SQL) shared by all subsystems

How is data handled in microservices?

Each microservice owns its own domain data and logic, accessed only through its APIs or messaging

What does REST stand for?

Representational State Transfer

What is REST?

An architectural style for designing stateless web services using HTTP methods and resources

What is SOAP?

A protocol for exchanging structured information using XML, typically stateful and heavier than REST

What is CRUD?

Create, Read, Update, Delete — the four basic operations on persistent storage

Which HTTP method is used to create a new resource?

PUT

Which HTTP method is used to update or replace a resource?

POST

Which HTTP method is used to retrieve data?

GET

Which HTTP method is used to delete a resource?

DELETE

What is a container?

A standard unit of software packaging code and dependencies for consistent execution across environments

What is Docker?

A platform for building, running, and managing containers

What is a Dockerfile?

A text file with instructions to build a Docker image

What is Docker Hub?

A public registry for container images

What is a Docker volume?

A mechanism to persist data beyond the lifecycle of a container

What is Kubernetes?

A container orchestration platform originally derived from Google's Borg

What is a Pod in Kubernetes?

The smallest deployable unit, grouping one or more containers

What is a Service in Kubernetes?

A stable entry point that maps to Pods, enabling discovery and load balancing

What is a ReplicaSet in Kubernetes?

Ensures a specified number of identical Pods are running

What is a Deployment in Kubernetes?

Provides declarative updates to Pods and ReplicaSets

What is a DaemonSet in Kubernetes?

Ensures a Pod runs on every node in the cluster

What is a StatefulSet in Kubernetes?

Manages stateful applications requiring persistent identity and storage

What is serverless computing?

A model where developers run code without managing servers; infrastructure is handled by the cloud provider

What is FaaS?

Function‑as‑a‑Service: event‑driven execution of code without managing infrastructure

What are the benefits of serverless computing?

Cost efficiency, elastic scalability, faster time‑to‑market, built‑in fault tolerance, simplified deployment

What is "scale to zero" in serverless?

Resources shut down entirely when idle, incurring no cost

What workloads are ideal for serverless?

Event‑driven, bursty traffic, stateless tasks, rapid prototyping

What workloads are not ideal for serverless?

Long‑running processes, low‑latency requirements, OS‑level customization

What is the Function‑Oriented Pattern in serverless?

Designing applications as fine‑grained, event‑driven functions that scale independently