When to use microservices (and when not to) - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Identifying when microservices add value

Which scenario best justifies adopting a microservices architecture?

A A small startup with a simple app and a single development team.

B A static website with minimal backend logic and low traffic.

C A large e-commerce platform with multiple teams working on different features independently.

D A batch processing script that runs once a day without user interaction.

💡 Hint

Think about when splitting into smaller services helps manage complexity and team independence.

Microservices are most beneficial when multiple teams work independently on different parts of a large system, allowing for better scalability and deployment flexibility.

❓ tradeoff

intermediate

Tradeoffs of microservices in small projects

What is a common downside of using microservices for a small, simple project?

A Better team autonomy and faster deployments.

B Improved fault isolation and easier scaling.

C Automatic performance improvements without extra effort.

D Increased complexity and overhead in managing multiple services.

💡 Hint

Consider the management effort required for multiple services versus a single app.

For small projects, microservices add complexity and operational overhead that may not be justified by the benefits.

❓ Architecture

advanced

Choosing architecture for a growing application

A company has a monolithic app that is growing rapidly. Which architectural change best supports scaling development and deployment?

A Keep the monolith and add more servers to handle load.

B Split the app into microservices based on business capabilities.

C Rewrite the entire app in a new programming language.

D Use a single database for all features to simplify data management.

💡 Hint

Think about how to enable teams to work independently and deploy features separately.

Splitting into microservices by business capabilities allows independent scaling, deployment, and development, which suits a rapidly growing app.

❓ scaling

advanced

Scaling challenges with microservices

What is a common challenge when scaling microservices that does not typically occur in monolithic apps?

A Managing distributed data consistency across services.

B Adding more CPU and memory to a single server.

C Writing code in a single programming language.

D Deploying the entire app as one unit.

💡 Hint

Consider what happens when data is spread across multiple independent services.

Microservices often require complex strategies to keep data consistent across services, unlike monoliths where data is centralized.

❓ estimation

expert

Estimating operational overhead of microservices

A company plans to migrate from a monolith to 20 microservices. Which factor most increases operational overhead?

A The need to monitor and log each service separately.

B Writing all services in the same programming language.

C Deploying all services together as a single package.

D Using a single shared database for all services.

💡 Hint

Think about what multiplies as the number of services grows.

Each microservice requires its own monitoring, logging, and alerting setup, increasing operational complexity significantly.