System Architecture and Interface Design Questions

Covers how data moves through systems and how interface design shapes that flow and the overall architecture. Candidates should be able to explain application programming interface design patterns, synchronous versus asynchronous communication, representational state transfer style considerations, contract and versioning strategies, and the performance and scalability implications of those choices. This topic also assesses architecture reasoning: why component boundaries, sequencing, or tooling were chosen, and how those decisions reflect tradeoffs such as scale versus simplicity, speed to market versus robustness, consistency versus availability, and custom solutions versus off the shelf. Include maintainability, observability, and how architecture choices influence team boundaries and operational practices.