Welcome to your interview for the Software Engineer role at Ankercloud.
The question is on your right: Choose Monolith or Microservices. Take a moment with it first.
Talk your thinking through with me if you like - when you're confident, submit your answer and I'll grade it like a real screen. You have three graded attempts to score 7/10 or better.
You are deciding how to structure a new engineering initiative before delivery planning begins. The team needs to choose between starting with a monolith or investing early in microservices, knowing that the architecture decision will affect delivery speed, operational complexity, and how easily the system can scale later.
What are the trade-offs between microservices and monolithic architectures, and how would you decide which approach to use for a new platform initiative?