Interview Q&A

Short answer: Yes, using binding expressions like {name}, {rand-guid}, or {datetime}. Example (dynamic blob output): [Blob("container/{name}-{datetime}.txt", FileAccess.Write)] out string outputBlob

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database service on Azure. Provides automatic backups, patching, scaling, high availability, and security.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model NoSQL database. Supports key-value, document, graph, and column-family data models. Provides automatic scaling, low latency, and global replication.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Feature Azure SQL Cosmos DB Type Relational NoSQL, multi-model Schema Fixed Schema-less Scaling Vertical/Horizontal Horizontal, automatic Consistenc ACID Multiple consistency levels (Strong, Eventual, etc.) Use Case OLTP, structured data Global apps, unstructured data, IoT

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.

Short answer: Use connection string in appsettings.json: "ConnectionStrings": { "DefaultConnection": "Server=tcp:myserver.database.windows.net,1433;Initial Catalog=MyDb;Persist Security Info=False;User ID=myuser;Password=mypassword;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt =True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;" } Inject DbContext using Entity Framework Core: builder.Services.AddDbContext<MyDbContext>(options =>…

Explain a bit more

options.UseSqlServer(builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("Defa ultConnection")));

Example code

Use connection string in appsettings.json: "ConnectionStrings": { "DefaultConnection": "Server=tcp:myserver.database.windows.net,1433;Initial
Catalog=MyDb;Persist Security Info=False;User
ID=myuser;Password=mypassword;MultipleActiveResultSets=False;Encrypt
=True;TrustServerCertificate=False;Connection Timeout=30;"
} Inject DbContext using Entity Framework Core: builder.Services.AddDbContext<MyDbContext>(options => options.UseSqlServer(builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("Defa ultConnection")));

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: SQL Authentication: Username and password. Azure Active Directory (AAD) authentication. Managed Identity: Use Azure App Service identity to connect without storing credentials.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Serverless compute tier auto-scales based on workload and pauses during inactivity. Cost-efficient for intermittent workloads.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Use Azure Data Migration Assistant (DMA). Use bacpac import/export. Use SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) deploy options.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: DTU (Database Transaction Unit): Bundled measure of CPU, memory, IOPS. vCore: Separate allocation of virtual cores, memory, and storage. vCore allows flexible scaling and cost optimization.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Use ADO.NET connection pooling (default in .NET). Ensure DbContext is scoped per request in ASP.NET Core.

Example code

services.AddDbContext<MyDbContext>(options => options.UseSqlServer(connectionString));

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE). Configure firewall rules and VNet integration. Use AAD authentication or Managed Identity. Enable Advanced Threat Protection.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Restricts database access to specific IP ranges or VNets. Ensures only authorized clients can connect.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Provisioned throughput: Fixed Request Units (RUs) per second. Serverless: Automatically scales and billed per request. Use serverless for low or intermittent traffic.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: SQL (Core) API MongoDB API Cassandra API Gremlin (Graph) API Table API

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Azure.Cosmos NuGet package (v3+) is preferred. Example: var cosmosClient = new CosmosClient(endpointUri, primaryKey); var container = cosmosClient.GetContainer("DatabaseId", "ContainerId");

Example code

Azure.Cosmos NuGet package (v3+) is preferred. Example: var cosmosClient = new CosmosClient(endpointUri, primaryKey);
var container = cosmosClient.GetContainer("DatabaseId", "ContainerId");

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Use QueryDefinition and FeedIterator with MaxItemCount. var query = new QueryDefinition("SELECT * FROM c"); var iterator = container.GetItemQueryIterator<MyItem>(query, requestOptions: new QueryRequestOptions { MaxItemCount = 10 }); while (iterator.HasMoreResults) { foreach (var item in await iterator.ReadNextAsync()) { Console.WriteLine(item.Id); } }

Example code

Use QueryDefinition and FeedIterator with MaxItemCount. var query = new QueryDefinition("SELECT * FROM c");
var iterator = container.GetItemQueryIterator<MyItem>(query,
requestOptions: new QueryRequestOptions { MaxItemCount = 10 }); while (iterator.HasMoreResults) {
foreach (var item in await iterator.ReadNextAsync())
{ Console.WriteLine(item.Id); }
}

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Cosmos DB supports Strong, Bounded Staleness, Session, Consistent Prefix, Eventual. Set consistency when creating CosmosClient: var clientOptions = new CosmosClientOptions

Example code

{ ConsistencyLevel = ConsistencyLevel.Session }; var cosmosClient = new CosmosClient(endpointUri, primaryKey, clientOptions);

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Cosmos DB automatically indexes all properties by default. You can customize index paths for performance. { "indexingMode": "consistent", "includedPaths": [ {"path": "/name/?"}, {"path": "/age/?"} }

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Automatic backups every 4 hours (retention 7–30 days depending on config). Restore using point-in-time restore in Azure Portal or via CLI.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest on Azure typically uses App Service + SQL Database + Blob Storage + Application Insights for monitoring.

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.

Short answer: Azure Key Vault is a cloud service for securely storing and managing secrets, keys, and certificates. Helps protect sensitive information like connection strings, passwords, API keys, and encryption keys.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Connection strings and payment keys live in Key Vault—not in source control or plain appsettings on disk.

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.

Short answer: Secrets: Strings, passwords, API keys, connection strings Keys: Cryptographic keys for encryption/decryption (RSA, EC) Certificates: SSL/TLS or client certificates

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Connection strings and payment keys live in Key Vault—not in source control or plain appsettings on disk.

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.

Short answer: Use Azure.Extensions.AspNetCore.Configuration.Secrets package to load secrets into IConfiguration. var builder = new ConfigurationBuilder() .AddAzureKeyVault(new Uri(" new DefaultAzureCredential()); var configuration = builder.Build();

Example code

var secretValue = configuration["MySecret"];

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Connection strings and payment keys live in Key Vault—not in source control or plain appsettings on disk.

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.

Short answer: Configure Access Policies in Azure Portal or via Azure CLI. Assign roles: Get → read secrets List → enumerate secrets Set → update secrets Use Managed Identity for apps instead of storing credentials.

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Connection strings and payment keys live in Key Vault—not in source control or plain appsettings on disk.

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.

Short answer: Feature Secret Key Certificate Data type Any string Cryptographic key X.509 certificate Use case Passwords, connection strings Encryption, signing SSL/TLS or client auth Managed by Secret store Key store Certificate store

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.

Short answer: Enable Managed Identity on your App Service or Function App. Grant Key Vault access policy to the identity. Access secrets without storing credentials: var client = new SecretClient(new Uri(" new DefaultAzureCredential()); KeyVaultSecret secret = client.GetSecret("MySecret");

Example code

string value = secret.Value;

Real-world example (ShopNest)

Connection strings and payment keys live in Key Vault—not in source control or plain appsettings on disk.

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.