What are microservices, and how do they differ from monolithic architectures?

Short answer: Microservices are an architectural approach where an application is divided into small, independently deployable services, each focused on a specific business function.

Explain a bit more

These services communicate with each other over APIs and are developed, deployed, and scaled independently. Monolithic architectures, in contrast, bundle all components of an application into a single, tightly coupled unit. Changes or scaling require the entire application to be redeployed. Key Differences: Microservices offer modularity, scalability, and independent deployment, while monolithic is a single, tightly integrated system that can be harder to scale and maintain as it grows.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest splits Catalog, Cart, Order, and Payment into services so teams can deploy catalog changes without redeploying payments.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.