ASP.NET Core Web API Interview Question #200
What principles distinguish senior-level ASP.NET Core Web API design?
Senior API Design, Architecture, Scalability & Production Scenarios Senior Advanced
Quick Interview Answer
Senior API design balances correctness, security, maintainability, operability, performance, and client compatibility rather than optimizing only controller code. It defines explicit contracts, keeps business logic independent from transport details, uses data access intentionally, and treats authorization and tenant boundaries as server-enforced invariants.
Detailed Explanation
Senior API design balances correctness, security, maintainability, operability, performance, and client compatibility rather than optimizing only controller code. It defines explicit contracts, keeps business logic independent from transport details, uses data access intentionally, and treats authorization and tenant boundaries as server-enforced invariants.
A senior design also plans for failure: cancellation, timeouts, retries, idempotency, concurrency, observability, health, deployment compatibility, and recovery. Architecture should remain as simple as the problem permits while creating clear boundaries where scale, domain complexity, or independent evolution genuinely require them.
Code Example
// Senior design checklist:
// Clear HTTP contract + DTOs
// Server-side validation + authorization
// Async I/O + cancellation
// Efficient queries + pagination
// Idempotency + concurrency strategy
// Timeouts + resilience
// Logs + metrics + traces
// Tests + safe migrations/deployments
// Backward-compatible evolution