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EIP practice questions

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Question 1Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which integration style couples applications through a shared data store instead of explicit message exchange?

  1. File transfer
  2. Remote procedure call
  3. Shared database Correct answer.
  4. Message channel

Explanation

A shared-database integration style lets multiple applications read and write the same schema, so coordination happens through the data store rather than through sent messages. This creates tight coupling to the schema and can complicate change management. The other styles exchange files, invoke remote methods, or pass messages.

Question 2Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In enterprise messaging, what is the role of a message channel?

  1. It transforms the payload into a canonical schema.
  2. It stores business rules for the broker.
  3. It authenticates every message consumer.
  4. It is a logical conduit linking sender and receiver. Correct answer.

Explanation

A message channel is the logical connection over which messages travel from senders to receivers. It decouples producers from consumers and can be point-to-point or publish-subscribe. Transformation, business rules, and authentication are separate concerns.

Question 3Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which messaging model delivers one published message to every subscribed consumer?

  1. Publish-subscribe Correct answer.
  2. Competing consumers
  3. Request-reply
  4. Point-to-point

Explanation

Publish-subscribe delivers a copy of each published message to all subscribers of a topic. Point-to-point delivers a message to one consumer on a queue. Competing consumers share a queue for load balancing rather than broadcasting.

Question 4Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is a primary function of an enterprise service bus?

  1. It mediates and routes service interactions. Correct answer.
  2. It compiles all service code for deployment.
  3. It hosts the user interface for every service.
  4. It replaces business process definitions.

Explanation

An ESB provides mediation, routing, transformation, and protocol adaptation so services can communicate without point-to-point wiring. It is an integration infrastructure layer, not a compiler, UI host, or process-definition replacement.

Question 5Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Why is a canonical data model used in enterprise integration?

  1. It forces all systems onto one database vendor.
  2. It gives systems one common message format. Correct answer.
  3. It replaces all business process definitions.
  4. It removes every need for data transformation.

Explanation

A canonical model defines a shared message format so each system maps to and from one common representation instead of many pairwise formats. Transformations are still needed at system boundaries. It does not mandate a database vendor or replace process definitions.

Question 6Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A content-based router makes routing decisions based on what?

  1. Message content Correct answer.
  2. Time of day only
  3. Consumer identity only
  4. Queue depth only

Explanation

A content-based router inspects message fields or payload values and forwards the message along a matching channel. It differs from load-based routing, which uses runtime metrics, and from identity-based routing, which uses consumer attributes.

Question 7Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the purpose of an integration adapter?

  1. To bridge a native interface to a standard one Correct answer.
  2. To monitor network packet loss
  3. To store the canonical schema for the enterprise
  4. To schedule batch jobs for the data warehouse

Explanation

An adapter wraps an application's native protocol or API and exposes it through a standard integration interface. This lets the integration layer communicate without changing the application. Adapters do not own the canonical schema or perform general scheduling.

Question 8Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In asynchronous request-reply messaging, what allows a reply to be matched to its original request?

  1. A wire tap
  2. A resequencer
  3. A correlation identifier Correct answer.
  4. A dead-letter channel

Explanation

A correlation identifier is carried in both the request and the reply so the requester can associate the response with the correct outstanding request. Dead-letter channels handle failures, wire taps copy messages for monitoring, and resequencers restore order.

Question 9Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A payment service may receive the same message twice because delivery is at-least-once. Which pattern prevents duplicate processing?

  1. Splitter
  2. Claim check
  3. Message expiration
  4. Idempotent receiver Correct answer.

Explanation

An idempotent receiver detects or tolerates duplicate deliveries so processing the same message more than once has the same effect as processing it once. Claim check handles large payloads, splitter breaks up messages, and expiration discards stale messages.

Question 10Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which approach manages a long-running distributed transaction by using compensating actions?

  1. Wire tap
  2. CQRS
  3. Saga Correct answer.
  4. Two-phase commit

Explanation

A saga coordinates a sequence of local transactions and invokes compensating actions when a later step fails. It avoids holding distributed locks for the whole business transaction. Two-phase commit is a synchronous atomic protocol, while CQRS and wire tap address other concerns.

Question 11Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What distinguishes orchestration from choreography in service composition?

  1. Orchestration forbids error handling; choreography allows it.
  2. Orchestration uses only files; choreography uses only RPC.
  3. Orchestration is always synchronous; choreography is always batch.
  4. A central controller directs orchestration; choreography relies on peer events. Correct answer.

Explanation

Orchestration places a central coordinator in charge of invoking services and managing the flow. Choreography has each participant react to events without a central controller. Both can be synchronous or asynchronous and both need error handling.

Question 12Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which responsibility is typical of an API gateway in a microservices architecture?

  1. Routing, authentication, and rate limiting for clients Correct answer.
  2. Storing the master copy of all domain data
  3. Running the payroll batch schedule
  4. Compiling service code at runtime

Explanation

An API gateway provides a single client-facing entry point and commonly handles request routing, authentication, rate limiting, and response aggregation. It does not own domain master data or compile service code. Batch scheduling is a separate operational concern.

Question 13Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A message containing a batch of 100 orders must be processed individually and then summarized. Which pair of patterns fits?

  1. Splitter and aggregator Correct answer.
  2. Claim check and dead-letter channel
  3. Idempotent receiver and message expiration
  4. Wire tap and resequencer

Explanation

A splitter breaks the composite message into individual order messages, and an aggregator collects the results into a summary. Wire tap and resequencer address monitoring and ordering, while claim check and dead-letter channels address payload size and failures.

Question 14Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the purpose of a dead-letter channel?

  1. To reorder messages by timestamp
  2. To hold messages that cannot be processed successfully Correct answer.
  3. To compress large payloads
  4. To duplicate every message for auditing

Explanation

A dead-letter channel receives messages that fail processing after configured retries so they can be inspected, corrected, or replayed. It prevents poison messages from blocking the main queue. Auditing, resequencing, and compression are separate concerns.

Question 15Enterprise Architecture and Integration

How do competing consumers improve message processing?

  1. They broadcast each message to all subscribers.
  2. They eliminate the need for acknowledgments.
  3. They guarantee global message ordering.
  4. They let multiple consumers share a queue to increase throughput. Correct answer.

Explanation

Competing consumers read from the same queue so work is distributed across multiple instances, increasing throughput and availability. They do not broadcast to every consumer, and per-queue concurrency can weaken strict global ordering. Acknowledgments are still needed for reliable delivery.

Question 16Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What does CQRS separate?

  1. Batch and streaming jobs
  2. Public and private networks
  3. Command handling from query handling Correct answer.
  4. Development and operations teams

Explanation

CQRS separates the write model that handles commands from the read model that serves queries, allowing each side to be optimized independently. It is not an organizational split, a batch-versus-streaming distinction, or a network segmentation model.

Question 17Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the main benefit of data virtualization?

  1. It replaces all message brokers with files.
  2. It physically copies every source into one warehouse.
  3. It guarantees zero latency for every query.
  4. It provides a unified virtual view without copying all source data. Correct answer.

Explanation

Data virtualization presents a logical, integrated view over distributed sources and pushes queries to them, avoiding full physical copies. Performance still depends on source systems and query planning. It does not replace messaging or guarantee zero latency.

Question 18Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Why would a message include an expiration time?

  1. To increase the message size for testing
  2. To force all consumers to reject the message
  3. To prevent stale messages from being processed later Correct answer.
  4. To encrypt the payload after delivery

Explanation

An expiration time tells the broker or consumer that the message is no longer useful after a deadline, so stale work can be discarded. This is common for time-sensitive requests and events. Encryption, payload sizing, and consumer rejection are unrelated.

Question 19Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which combination best supports guaranteed message delivery in a messaging system?

  1. Persistent storage plus acknowledgments and redelivery Correct answer.
  2. Client-side caching with no broker
  3. Direct database sharing with no acknowledgments
  4. Fire-and-forget sends with no persistence

Explanation

Guaranteed delivery typically relies on persistent message storage, consumer acknowledgments, and redelivery when processing fails. Fire-and-forget and brokerless caching can lose messages during failures. Shared databases do not provide messaging acknowledgments.

Question 20Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the role of a service registry in SOA or microservices?

  1. It compiles service binaries.
  2. It stores only audit logs.
  3. It assigns payroll codes.
  4. It maintains a catalog of available service instances and endpoints. Correct answer.

Explanation

A service registry records service identities, endpoints, and metadata so consumers and gateways can discover available instances. It supports dynamic routing and failover. It does not compile binaries, store only audit logs, or assign payroll codes.

Question 21Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A service must update its database and publish an event atomically. Which pattern avoids a dual-write failure?

  1. Transactional outbox Correct answer.
  2. Publish-subscribe
  3. Message resequencer
  4. Claim check

Explanation

The transactional outbox writes the business change and the outgoing event to the same database transaction, and a separate relay publishes the event later. This avoids the inconsistency of writing to a database and a broker in separate operations. Claim check, resequencer, and publish-subscribe solve different messaging problems.

Question 22Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Why is two-phase commit often avoided for long-running cross-service business transactions?

  1. It holds locks and resources for the transaction duration. Correct answer.
  2. It works only with file transfer.
  3. It removes the need for compensating actions.
  4. It cannot provide atomicity for any database.

Explanation

Two-phase commit keeps resources locked across prepare and commit phases, which can reduce availability and create contention in long-running business workflows. It can provide atomicity for participating resource managers, but at a coordination cost. Sagas with compensation are often preferred for long-lived transactions.

Question 23Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A message carries a large document reference instead of the document itself. Which pattern is this?

  1. Wire tap
  2. Message filter
  3. Claim check Correct answer.
  4. Content enricher

Explanation

The claim check pattern stores a large payload in an external store and puts a reference token in the message. Consumers redeem the token when they need the full content. Wire tap copies messages, content enricher adds data, and message filter removes unwanted messages.

Question 24Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which practice best supports backward-compatible message schema evolution?

  1. Changing field meanings without documenting the change
  2. Adding optional fields and retaining old fields Correct answer.
  3. Removing optional fields as soon as consumers stop reading them
  4. Renaming existing fields without introducing version numbers

Explanation

Backward-compatible evolution adds optional fields and keeps existing fields available so older consumers continue to work. Renaming, removing, or silently changing fields breaks consumers that rely on the old contract. Versioning and deprecation windows manage the transition.

Question 25Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the purpose of a reference architecture in enterprise architecture?

  1. To enforce a single programming language
  2. To document one vendor's price list
  3. To supply a reusable component blueprint Correct answer.
  4. To replace all project-level design

Explanation

A reference architecture offers a reusable blueprint of components, relationships, and principles that guides solution designs. It is tailored to a domain or problem class rather than prescribing a vendor price list. Projects still perform their own design work and may use multiple languages.

Question 26Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which integration style couples applications most tightly by allowing them to read and write the same physical data store?

  1. Message-oriented middleware
  2. File transfer
  3. Shared database Correct answer.
  4. Remote procedure call

Explanation

A shared database integration style lets multiple applications access the same schema and data store directly, creating tight coupling at the data model level. Changes to the schema can affect every participating application, so it is the most tightly coupled of the classic integration styles.

Question 27Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the primary function of an enterprise service bus in a service-oriented integration landscape?

  1. Mediating and routing messages among services Correct answer.
  2. Enforcing two-phase commit across every service call
  3. Storing all enterprise master data in one repository
  4. Replacing service contracts with direct database links

Explanation

An enterprise service bus provides intermediation between services, including routing, transformation, protocol adaptation, and policy enforcement. It does not own enterprise master data or require distributed transactions for every call; those are separate concerns handled by other capabilities.

Question 28Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In a publish-subscribe messaging model, how does a message reach its consumers?

  1. The message is written to a shared file for polling
  2. Each consumer competes to receive the same single copy
  3. The producer sends directly to a named queue owner
  4. The broker delivers a copy to every subscriber Correct answer.

Explanation

Publish-subscribe uses a topic or similar channel abstraction in which each subscriber receives its own copy of the published message. Point-to-point channels instead deliver a message to one competing consumer, which is a different messaging model.

Question 29Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In the SOAP web services stack, what does a WSDL document primarily describe?

  1. Service operations, messages, and bindings Correct answer.
  2. The runtime thread pool configuration
  3. The database schema used by the service
  4. The enterprise business capability map

Explanation

WSDL is an interface description language for SOAP services. It defines abstract message and operation definitions and binds them to concrete network protocols and endpoint addresses.

Question 30Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which API versioning approach places the version in the URL path, such as /v2/orders?

  1. URI path versioning Correct answer.
  2. Media type versioning
  3. Query parameter versioning
  4. Request header versioning

Explanation

URI path versioning exposes the version as a path segment, making the version explicit in the address. Media type and request header versioning carry the version in HTTP metadata instead of the path.

Question 31Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which BPMN element models work performed automatically by a service or application?

  1. Receive task
  2. Manual task
  3. User task
  4. Service task Correct answer.

Explanation

A BPMN service task represents automated work invoked by the process engine through a service or application interface. User tasks require human interaction, while manual tasks are performed outside the engine's control.

Question 32Enterprise Architecture and Integration

What is the main purpose of a canonical data model in enterprise integration?

  1. To provide a shared message format across systems Correct answer.
  2. To replace all service-level agreements
  3. To store transactional data permanently
  4. To eliminate the need for any message transformation

Explanation

A canonical data model defines a common, enterprise-level representation so that each system maps to one shared format rather than to every other system's format. This reduces the number of point-to-point transformations, although transformation logic is still needed at system boundaries.

Question 33Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which technology is designed for secure, auditable, governed exchange of large files between organizations?

  1. Publish-subscribe messaging
  2. Instant messaging
  3. Managed file transfer Correct answer.
  4. Remote procedure call

Explanation

Managed file transfer provides controlled, auditable, and secure movement of files, often with encryption, tracking, and governance features. It is intended for file-based exchanges that require more control than ad hoc or basic file transfer methods.

Question 34Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A broker receives orders, and only orders with a status of priority must be sent to a fulfillment service. Which enterprise integration pattern should be used?

  1. Wire tap
  2. Claim check
  3. Message filter Correct answer.
  4. Recipient list

Explanation

A message filter passes only messages that satisfy a specified condition and discards or routes the rest elsewhere. Here the condition is the priority status, so a filter removes non-priority orders from the fulfillment flow.

Question 35Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A single order event must be delivered to pricing, inventory, and billing services, with the recipient set determined at runtime. Which pattern fits?

  1. Message filter
  2. Recipient list Correct answer.
  3. Aggregator
  4. Splitter

Explanation

A recipient list routes one incoming message to a dynamically determined list of recipients. It is appropriate when the destinations are not fixed at design time and may vary per message or configuration.

Question 36Enterprise Architecture and Integration

An integration team needs to inspect copies of messages flowing through a channel for auditing without affecting the main flow. Which pattern should they apply?

  1. Wire tap Correct answer.
  2. Competing consumers
  3. Dead-letter channel
  4. Message expiration

Explanation

A wire tap copies messages from a channel to a secondary destination so they can be inspected, logged, or audited. The original message continues along its normal path, so the main flow is not altered.

Question 37Enterprise Architecture and Integration

An order message lacks the customer's loyalty tier, which is needed downstream. Which pattern adds that missing data from an external source?

  1. Content filter
  2. Normalizer
  3. Envelope wrapper
  4. Content enricher Correct answer.

Explanation

A content enricher augments a message with data retrieved from another source, such as a customer database. It is used when the original message is valid but incomplete for downstream processing.

Question 38Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Messages from three suppliers arrive in different XML formats but must be converted to one common format. Which pattern addresses this?

  1. Normalizer Correct answer.
  2. Message broker
  3. Resequencer
  4. Splitter

Explanation

A normalizer translates multiple incoming formats into a single common format before further processing. It is the standard pattern when heterogeneous sources must appear uniform to downstream consumers.

Question 39Enterprise Architecture and Integration

A legacy system cannot push events, so an integration service checks its database for new records every five minutes. Which consumer pattern is this?

  1. Idempotent receiver
  2. Event-driven consumer
  3. Polling consumer Correct answer.
  4. Competing consumer

Explanation

A polling consumer periodically checks a source for new data rather than reacting to a pushed event. This pattern is commonly used with legacy systems that cannot emit events or notifications.

Question 40Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In API-led connectivity, which API layer exposes a stable, business-oriented interface that composes underlying system APIs?

  1. System API
  2. Process API Correct answer.
  3. Experience API
  4. Infrastructure API

Explanation

A process API orchestrates and composes system APIs to expose reusable business capabilities. Experience APIs then tailor those capabilities for specific channels or audiences.

Question 41Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which modernization pattern incrementally replaces a legacy system by routing selected functions to new services while the old system remains live?

  1. Lift and shift
  2. Shared database
  3. Big-bang replacement
  4. Strangler fig Correct answer.

Explanation

The strangler fig pattern gradually routes functionality away from a legacy system to new services, allowing the old system to shrink over time. This reduces risk compared with replacing the entire system at once.

Question 42Enterprise Architecture and Integration

When integrating a new domain model with a legacy system whose model is undesirable, which pattern isolates the new model from legacy concepts?

  1. Canonical data model
  2. Anti-corruption layer Correct answer.
  3. Service facade
  4. Message translator

Explanation

An anti-corruption layer translates between the new domain model and a legacy model so that legacy concepts do not leak into the new design. It acts as a protective boundary with explicit translation logic.

Question 43Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which practice defines a service's interface before implementation and uses that definition to generate or validate both provider and consumer code?

  1. Contract-first design Correct answer.
  2. Database-first design
  3. Code-first design
  4. UI-first design

Explanation

Contract-first design treats the service contract as the authoritative specification and derives implementation and client artifacts from it. This helps providers and consumers agree on the interface before code is written.

Question 44Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which testing approach lets each consumer define the provider interactions it depends on, so the provider cannot break them unknowingly?

  1. Penetration testing
  2. Consumer-driven contract testing Correct answer.
  3. End-to-end integration testing
  4. Load testing

Explanation

Consumer-driven contract testing captures each consumer's expectations as contracts and verifies that the provider satisfies them. This catches breaking interface changes without requiring a full end-to-end environment for every test.

Question 45Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In TOGAF ADM, which phase establishes the architecture vision and obtains stakeholder approval to proceed?

  1. Phase B
  2. Phase C
  3. Phase D
  4. Phase A Correct answer.

Explanation

Phase A of the TOGAF Architecture Development Method creates the architecture vision and the Statement of Architecture Work. It also secures stakeholder approval to move into the detailed architecture phases.

Question 46Enterprise Architecture and Integration

According to ISO/IEC/IEEE 42010, what is the relationship between a view and a viewpoint?

  1. A viewpoint is a rendered diagram, while a view is a stakeholder concern
  2. A view is expressed using a viewpoint that frames its concerns Correct answer.
  3. A viewpoint is a runtime log, while a view is a deployment plan
  4. A view and a viewpoint are synonyms with no formal distinction

Explanation

In ISO 42010, a viewpoint defines the conventions for constructing and interpreting a view and identifies the concerns it addresses. A view is the actual representation produced according to that viewpoint.

Question 47Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In business capability modeling, which statement distinguishes a capability from a business process?

  1. A capability changes from day to day, while a process remains stable for years
  2. A capability is always fully automated, while a process is always performed manually
  3. A capability is owned exclusively by IT, while a process is owned exclusively by finance
  4. A capability is what the business does; a process is how Correct answer.

Explanation

A capability describes what the business is able to do, independent of how it is performed. A process describes the sequence of activities used to realize a capability or deliver an outcome.

Question 48Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which statement best describes how event sourcing differs from state-storing persistence?

  1. It requires two-phase commit for every event
  2. It persists state-changing events as the source of truth Correct answer.
  3. It stores only the latest snapshot and permanently discards all prior states
  4. It uses a shared database to avoid event publication

Explanation

Event sourcing records each state-changing event in sequence and reconstructs current state by replaying those events. This differs from storing only the latest state, because the event history itself is the authoritative record.

Question 49Enterprise Architecture and Integration

In a service mesh, what is the role of a sidecar proxy?

  1. It replaces the API gateway for every north-south traffic flow
  2. It executes all business transactions directly inside the service's own database
  3. It stores the service registry and all enterprise master data records
  4. It handles retries, TLS, and telemetry for service traffic Correct answer.

Explanation

A sidecar proxy intercepts service-to-service traffic and applies communication concerns such as retries, mutual TLS, and telemetry outside the application code. This lets platform teams enforce consistent network behavior across services.

Question 50Enterprise Architecture and Integration

Which pattern coordinates a multi-step message flow by carrying an itinerary of processing steps with the message itself?

  1. Routing slip Correct answer.
  2. Process manager
  3. Splitter
  4. Aggregator

Explanation

A routing slip travels with the message and lists the sequence of steps or endpoints to invoke. Each receiver consults the slip, performs its step, and forwards the message according to the remaining itinerary.