Foundations · Stage test

Software Architecture Foundations stage test

No governed timed route exists for this stage yet, so this page gives you an honest untimed stage-end check built from the published bank.

Format Untimed self-check
Questions 20
Best time to use it After the stage modules and practice

Question 1

What is the PRIMARY role of a software architect?

  1. Writing all the code for a project
  2. Making and communicating technical decisions that are costly to change later
  3. Managing the project timeline and budget
  4. Testing the software for bugs
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Making and communicating technical decisions that are costly to change later

Question 2

Why are architecture decisions sometimes called 'the decisions that are hard to change'?

  1. Because architects are resistant to change
  2. Because they affect the fundamental structure, and reversing them requires significant rework across the system
  3. Because they are documented in legal contracts
  4. Because no one remembers why the decision was made
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Because they affect the fundamental structure, and reversing them requires significant rework across the system

Question 3

What is a non-functional requirement (NFR)?

  1. A requirement that has been rejected
  2. A quality attribute that describes how the system should behave, such as performance, security, or availability
  3. A requirement written by non-technical stakeholders
  4. A feature that does not require coding
Reveal answer

Correct answer: A quality attribute that describes how the system should behave, such as performance, security, or availability

Question 4

What is an Architecture Decision Record (ADR)?

  1. A database of all architectural components
  2. A short document that captures the context, decision, and consequences of an architecture choice
  3. A meeting where architects vote on designs
  4. A compliance report for auditors
Reveal answer

Correct answer: A short document that captures the context, decision, and consequences of an architecture choice

Question 5

In the C4 model, what does Level 1 (System Context) show?

  1. Individual classes and methods
  2. The system as a whole, its users, and the external systems it interacts with
  3. The internal components of each container
  4. The deployment infrastructure
Reveal answer

Correct answer: The system as a whole, its users, and the external systems it interacts with

Question 6

What is the key difference between a C4 Container and a C4 Component?

  1. Containers are physical servers; components are virtual machines
  2. A container is a separately deployable unit (web app, database, API); a component is a grouping of related functionality within a container
  3. Containers hold data; components hold logic
  4. There is no meaningful difference
Reveal answer

Correct answer: A container is a separately deployable unit (web app, database, API); a component is a grouping of related functionality within a container

Question 7

What does 'security by design' mean in practice?

  1. Adding security testing at the end of the project
  2. Considering security requirements and threats from the earliest design stages, not as an afterthought
  3. Using only secure programming languages
  4. Hiring a dedicated security team
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Considering security requirements and threats from the earliest design stages, not as an afterthought

Question 8

Why is input validation considered a fundamental security control?

  1. It improves application performance
  2. It prevents attackers from injecting malicious data that could exploit the application
  3. It makes the user interface cleaner
  4. It is required by all programming languages
Reveal answer

Correct answer: It prevents attackers from injecting malicious data that could exploit the application

Question 9

What is the purpose of a CI/CD pipeline in the context of software architecture?

  1. To write code automatically
  2. To automate the build, test, and deployment process, reducing human error and enabling faster, repeatable releases
  3. To store all project documentation
  4. To monitor production systems
Reveal answer

Correct answer: To automate the build, test, and deployment process, reducing human error and enabling faster, repeatable releases

Question 10

What does DevSecOps add to a standard DevOps approach?

  1. Extra servers for performance
  2. Security practices integrated into every stage of the CI/CD pipeline, not just at the end
  3. A separate team for security reviews
  4. Longer development cycles
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Security practices integrated into every stage of the CI/CD pipeline, not just at the end

Question 11

What is an SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) error budget?

  1. The financial budget for fixing errors
  2. The acceptable amount of downtime or errors allowed before new feature work pauses to focus on reliability
  3. The maximum number of bug reports per sprint
  4. A reserve of spare servers
Reveal answer

Correct answer: The acceptable amount of downtime or errors allowed before new feature work pauses to focus on reliability

Question 12

What is the difference between an SLI, SLO, and SLA?

  1. They are three different types of programming languages
  2. SLI is the metric measured, SLO is the target for that metric, SLA is the formal agreement with consequences for missing targets
  3. SLI is for internal use, SLO is for teams, SLA is for management
  4. They are interchangeable terms for service quality
Reveal answer

Correct answer: SLI is the metric measured, SLO is the target for that metric, SLA is the formal agreement with consequences for missing targets

Question 13

In the ISO/IEC 25010:2023 quality model, which quality attribute measures how easy a system is to modify?

  1. Reliability
  2. Maintainability
  3. Performance efficiency
  4. Usability
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Maintainability

Question 14

Why do quality attributes often conflict with each other?

  1. Because they were designed by different standards bodies
  2. Because optimising for one (e.g. security) often requires trade-offs with another (e.g. usability or performance)
  3. Because they apply to different programming languages
  4. They do not conflict in well-designed systems
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Because optimising for one (e.g. security) often requires trade-offs with another (e.g. usability or performance)

Question 15

What is a user journey in the context of architecture discovery?

  1. The physical path a user takes to reach their computer
  2. The sequence of steps and interactions a user follows to accomplish a goal across the system
  3. A debugging walkthrough by the development team
  4. A list of all API endpoints
Reveal answer

Correct answer: The sequence of steps and interactions a user follows to accomplish a goal across the system

Question 16

What is the purpose of a deployment pipeline stage that runs OWASP ASVS checks?

  1. To measure code coverage
  2. To verify that the application meets a defined set of security verification requirements
  3. To optimise application performance
  4. To generate API documentation
Reveal answer

Correct answer: To verify that the application meets a defined set of security verification requirements

Question 17

What is the main benefit of using a consistent architecture documentation format like C4?

  1. It eliminates the need for code comments
  2. It creates a shared visual language that different audiences (developers, managers, ops) can understand at appropriate levels of detail
  3. It generates code automatically
  4. It replaces unit testing
Reveal answer

Correct answer: It creates a shared visual language that different audiences (developers, managers, ops) can understand at appropriate levels of detail

Question 18

What does a blameless post-mortem focus on?

  1. Finding and punishing the person who caused the incident
  2. Understanding the systemic factors that contributed to the incident and how to prevent similar ones
  3. Calculating the financial cost of downtime
  4. Updating the project timeline
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Understanding the systemic factors that contributed to the incident and how to prevent similar ones

Question 19

What is the OWASP Top 10 and how does it relate to architecture?

  1. A list of the ten best programming languages
  2. A ranking of the most critical web application security risks, used by architects to prioritise security controls in design
  3. Ten architectural patterns for web applications
  4. A certification programme for web developers
Reveal answer

Correct answer: A ranking of the most critical web application security risks, used by architects to prioritise security controls in design

Question 20

What is technical debt and why should architects care about it?

  1. The financial cost of buying technical equipment
  2. Shortcuts or design compromises that make future changes harder and more expensive, which accumulates if not managed
  3. The debt incurred from hiring too many developers
  4. Technical debt only exists in legacy systems
Reveal answer

Correct answer: Shortcuts or design compromises that make future changes harder and more expensive, which accumulates if not managed

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