l/

pa
ep
de
an
/s
/in
om
.c
in
k ed
lin
w.
w
//w
s:
tp

Top 90+ [Link] Backend Interview Questions Asked in

ht

Product Companies

Follow for daily System Design, .NET, Node & Full Stack interview mastery
🔹 Q1. What is [Link] and why is it used in backend
systems?

Answer

l/
pa
[Link] is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 engine that allows executing JS on the
server side.

ep
Why product companies use [Link]:

de
●​ Non-blocking I/O model → handles high concurrency​

an
●​ Event-driven architecture​

/s
●​ Lightweight & fast startup​
/in
om

●​ Same language (JS/TS) across frontend + backend​

.c
in

Real-world example
ed

Netflix uses [Link] for edge services to handle millions of requests with minimal latency.
k

🔹 Q2. Explain the Event Loop in [Link] in depth

lin
w.
w

Answer
//w

[Link] uses a single-threaded event loop with a callback queue to handle async operations.
s:

Event loop phases:

tp

1.​ Timers (setTimeout, setInterval)​

ht

2.​ I/O callbacks​

3.​ Idle/prepare​

4.​ Poll (I/O execution)​

5.​ Check (setImmediate)​

 6.​ Close callbacks​

Key insight:
●​ Heavy computation blocks the loop → bad for scalability​

l/
Production Example

pa
If your API processes image compression synchronously → all requests get blocked.​

ep
Solution: move to worker threads or queue (BullMQ).

de
🔹 Q3. Difference between [Link](),
an
setImmediate(), and setTimeout()
/s
/in
Method Execution Time
om

[Link] Immediately after current operation

k
.c

setImmediate After I/O events in next loop cycle

in
ed

setTimeout After specified delay

k

Real-world usage:
lin

Use nextTick for critical microtasks like error propagation.

w.

🔹 Q4. What is Non-Blocking I/O?

w
//w
s:

[Link] executes I/O operations asynchronously without blocking the main thread.
tp

Example
ht

[Link]('[Link]', (err, data) => {

[Link](data)
})
[Link]("Non-blocking continues...")

🔹 Q5. What are Streams in [Link]?

Streams process data in chunks instead of loading entire data in memory.
Types:
●​ Readable​

●​ Writable​

●​ Duplex​

l/
●​ Transform​

pa
ep
Production Example

de
Uploading a 1GB file using stream instead of loading in memory → avoids memory crash.

an
🔹 Q6. What is Buffer in [Link]?
/s
/in
Buffer is used to handle binary data directly in memory.
om

Used in:
●​ File handling​
.c

●​ TCP streams​
in
ed

●​ Image processing​
k
lin

🔹 Q7. What is the difference between spawn, exec, and

w.
w

fork?
//w

Method Use Case

s:

spawn Stream large data

tp

exec Run shell commands with buffer

ht

fork Create child Node process

Example
Use fork for parallel background job processing
🔹 Q8. What is clustering in [Link]?
Clustering allows multiple CPU cores to run [Link] instances.
const cluster = require('cluster')

Benefit:
Improves horizontal scaling on single machine

l/
pa
🔹 Q9. What are Worker Threads?

ep
de
Worker threads run CPU-heavy tasks in separate threads.

an
Example:

/s
●​ Image resizing​
/in
●​ PDF generation​
om

●​ ML processing​
.c
in

🔹 Q10. What is middleware in [Link]?

k ed

Middleware are functions executed during request lifecycle.

lin
w.

Express Example
w

[Link]((req, res, next) => {

//w

[Link]("Logging")
next()
})
s:
tp

🔹 Q11. Explain error handling in [Link]

ht

Types:
1.​ Sync errors → try/catch​

2.​ Async errors → callbacks/promises​

 3.​ Global errors → [Link]('uncaughtException')​

Best Practice
Use centralized error handler middleware

🔹 Q12. What is REPL in [Link]?

l/
pa
ep
REPL = Read Eval Print Loop​
Used for interactive debugging

de
🔹 Q13. What is [Link]?
an
/s
It manages: /in
●​ dependencies​
om

●​ scripts​
.c

●​ metadata​
in
ed

Example
k

"scripts": {
lin

"start": "node [Link]"

w.

}
w

🔹 Q14. Difference between dependencies &

//w
s:

devDependencies
tp

Type Purpose
ht

dependencies Production runtime

devDependencie Dev tools (jest, eslint)

s
🔹 Q15. What is NPM vs NPX?
Tool Purpose

npm installs packages

npx executes
packages

l/
pa
🔹 Q16. What is the difference between CommonJS and ES

ep
de
Modules?

an
Feature CommonJS ES Modules

/s
Syntax require import
/in
Loading synchronou asynchronou
s s
om

🔹 Q17. What is callback hell?

.c
in
ed

Nested callbacks causing unreadable code.

k

Solution
lin

Use:
w.

●​ Promises​
w

●​ Async/await​
//w
s:

🔹 Q18. Explain Promises in [Link]

tp
ht

Promise has 3 states:

●​ Pending​

●​ Resolved​

●​ Rejected​
🔹 Q19. What is async/await?
Syntactic sugar over promises for cleaner async code.

🔹 Q20. What are environment variables?

l/
Stored in .env

pa
PORT=3000
DB_URL=...

ep
Used to store secure configuration

de
🔹 Q21. What is [Link] and why is it widely used?
an
/s
/in
Answer
om

[Link] is a minimal, unopinionated web framework for [Link] used to build REST APIs
and web servers.
.c

Why product companies use it:

in
ed

●​ Lightweight & fast​

k

●​ Middleware-based architecture​
lin

●​ Huge ecosystem​
w.
w

●​ Flexible routing​
//w
s:

Real-world example
tp

Building microservices APIs for an e-commerce platform (orders, users, payments) using
Express.
ht

🔹 Q22. Explain [Link] request lifecycle

Lifecycle Flow
Incoming Request → Middleware → Route Handler → Response → Error Middleware
Example
[Link](authMiddleware)
[Link]('/orders', orderController)
[Link](errorHandler)

🔹 Q23. What is routing in Express?

l/
pa
Routing maps HTTP request → handler function.

ep
[Link]('/users/:id', getUser)
[Link]('/orders', createOrder)

de
RESTful best practice:

an
●​ GET → read​

/s
●​ POST → create​
/in
om

●​ PUT/PATCH → update​

●​ DELETE → remove​
.c
in
ed

🔹 Q24. What are route parameters vs query parameters?

k
lin

Type Example
w.

Route param /users/10

w
//w

Query /users?page=
param 2
s:

🔹 Q25. What is middleware chaining?

tp
ht

Multiple middleware executed in sequence.

[Link]('/secure',
authMiddleware,
roleMiddleware,
controller
)
🔹 Q26. What is centralized error handling in Express?
Best Practice
Use a global error middleware:
[Link]((err, req, res, next) => {
[Link]([Link] || 500).json({

l/
message: [Link]

pa
})
})

ep
🔹 Q27. How do you structure a production-level Express

de
an
project?

/s
Recommended structure
/in
src/
om

├── controllers/
├── services/
.c

├── repositories/
in

├── middlewares/
├── routes/
ed

├── utils/
k

└── config/
lin

Why important?
w.

●​ Separation of concerns​
w
//w

●​ Clean architecture​
s:

●​ Testability​
tp
ht

🔹 Q28. How do you handle validation in [Link] APIs?

Tools:
●​ Joi​

●​ Yup​
 ●​ Zod​

●​ express-validator​

Example (Joi)
const schema = [Link]({

l/
email: [Link]().email().required()

pa
})

ep
🔹 Q29. What is request sanitization?

de
an
Sanitization removes malicious input.

/s
Example threats: /in
●​ XSS​
om

●​ SQL Injection​
.c
in

Libraries:
ed

●​ [Link]​
k
lin

●​ DOMPurify​
w.

🔹 Q30. What is rate limiting and why is it needed?

w
//w
s:

Prevents abuse by limiting number of requests.

tp

Example
ht

const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit')

Real-world example
Login API limited to 5 attempts per minute
🔹 Q31. What is CORS and how do you configure it?
CORS allows cross-origin requests.
[Link](cors({
origin: '[Link]
}))

🔹 Q32. What is [Link]?

l/
pa
ep
Helmet secures Express apps by setting HTTP headers.
[Link](helmet())

de
Prevents:
●​ XSS​

an
●​ Clickjacking​

/s
/in
●​ MIME sniffing​
om

🔹 Q33. How do you secure REST APIs?

.c
in
ed

Best practices:
k

●​ HTTPS​
lin
w.

●​ JWT authentication​
w

●​ Input validation​
//w

●​ Rate limiting​
s:

●​ Helmet​
tp
ht

●​ Logging & monitoring​

🔹 Q34. What is JWT authentication?

JWT = JSON Web Token
Flow:
 1.​ User login​

2.​ Server generates token​

3.​ Client sends token in headers​

🔹 Q35. What is refresh token mechanism?

l/
pa
ep
Access token expires quickly​
Refresh token used to generate new access token

de
Benefit

an
Improves security + UX

/s
/in
🔹 Q36. What is OAuth in [Link]?
om

OAuth allows login using:

.c

●​ Google​
in

●​ Facebook​
k ed

●​ GitHub​
lin

Used in SSO systems

w.

🔹 Q37. What is API versioning?

w
//w

Versioning prevents breaking existing clients.

s:
tp

Methods:
ht

●​ URL versioning /v1/users​

●​ Header versioning​

●​ Query versioning​
🔹 Q38. What is pagination in APIs?
Used to fetch large datasets in chunks.

Example
GET /products?page=1&limit=20

l/
🔹 Q39. What is API caching?

pa
ep
Caching improves performance.

de
Types:

an
●​ In-memory (Node cache)​

/s
●​ Redis​
/in
om

●​ CDN caching​
.c

Example
in

Cache product list for 60 seconds

ed

🔹 Q40. What are HTTP status codes best practices?

k
lin
w.

Code Meaning
w
//w

200 OK

201 Created
s:
tp

400 Bad Request

ht

401 Unauthorized

403 Forbidden

404 Not Found

500 Server Error

🔹 Q41. How does [Link] interact with databases?
Answer
[Link] interacts with databases using drivers/ORM/ODM libraries.

Common stacks:

l/
●​ SQL → PostgreSQL, MySQL (pg, mysql2, Sequelize, TypeORM)​

pa
ep
●​ NoSQL → MongoDB (Mongoose)​

de
Production Example

an
Order service using PostgreSQL with TypeORM and connection pooling.

🔹 Q42. What is connection pooling and why is it /s

/in
om

important?
.c

Connection pooling maintains a set of reusable DB connections.

in
ed

Benefits:
●​ Reduces connection overhead​
k
lin

●​ Improves performance​
w.

●​ Prevents DB overload​
w
//w

Real-world Example
s:

High-traffic login API handling 1000+ concurrent users

tp
ht

🔹 Q43. What is ORM vs Query Builder?

ORM Query Builder

Abstracts DB to objects Write SQL-like queries

e.g., TypeORM, [Link]

Sequelize
Tradeoff
ORM → productivity​
Query builder → performance control

🔹 Q44. What is database indexing?

l/
Indexes improve query performance by reducing full table scans.

pa
ep
Example
CREATE INDEX idx_user_email ON users(email);

de
🔹 Q45. What are ACID properties?
an
/s
●​ Atomicity​
/in
om

●​ Consistency​
.c

●​ Isolation​
in

●​ Durability​
ed

Used in transactional systems like payments

k
lin

🔹 Q46. What is eventual consistency?

w.
w

Used in distributed systems

//w

Data is not immediately consistent but becomes consistent over time.

s:

Example
tp

Order created → inventory updated asynchronously

ht

🔹 Q47. SQL vs NoSQL — when to use what?

Use SQL Use NoSQL

Transactions High scalability

Structured data Flexible schema

 Banking Social media
systems feeds

🔹 Q48. What is database sharding?

Splitting database into smaller pieces (shards)

l/
pa
Example

ep
Users split by region:
●​ India shard​

de
●​ US shard​

an
🔹 Q49. What is replication? /s
/in
om

Replication copies data across multiple servers.

.c

Types:
in
ed

●​ Master-Slave​
k

●​ Multi-master​
lin
w.

Benefit:
w

●​ High availability​
//w

●​ Fault tolerance​
s:
tp

🔹 Q50. What is Redis and why is it used?

ht

Redis is an in-memory data store.

Used for:
●​ Caching​
 ●​ Session store​

●​ Pub/Sub messaging​

●​ Rate limiting​

🔹 Q51. What is caching strategy?

l/
pa
ep
Types:

de
1.​ Cache-aside​

an
2.​ Write-through​

3.​ Write-back​
/s
/in
om

Example
.c

Product catalog cached for 30 seconds

in

🔹 Q52. How do you implement caching in [Link]?

k ed
lin

const redis = require('redis')

const client = [Link]()
w.
w

Pattern:
//w

●​ Check cache​
s:

●​ If miss → fetch DB → store in cache​

tp
ht

🔹 Q53. What is cache invalidation?

Removing stale data from cache.

Strategies:
●​ TTL expiration​
 ●​ Manual invalidation​

●​ Event-driven invalidation​

🔹 Q54. What is message queue?

l/
pa
Message queue enables async communication between services

ep
Tools:

de
●​ RabbitMQ​

an
●​ Kafka​

/s
●​ BullMQ (Redis-based)​ /in
om

🔹 Q55. When to use message queues?

.c
in

Use when:
●​ Background jobs​
k ed

●​ Email sending​
lin

●​ Payment processing​
w.
w

●​ Order fulfillment​
//w

🔹 Q56. What is Pub/Sub pattern?

s:
tp
ht

Publisher sends messages → multiple subscribers receive.

Example
Order placed → notify:
●​ Inventory service​

●​ Notification service​
🔹 Q57. What is Kafka used for?
Kafka is used for:
●​ Event streaming​

●​ Log aggregation​

●​ Real-time analytics​

l/
pa
ep
Example

de
Tracking user activity events

🔹 Q58. What is BullMQ?

an
/s
/in
BullMQ is a Redis-based job queue for [Link].
om

Use cases:
●​ Email jobs​
.c
in

●​ Image processing​
ed

●​ Report generation​
k
lin

🔹 Q59. What is idempotency in APIs?

w.
w
//w

Idempotency ensures same request multiple times = same result

s:

Example
tp

Payment API should not charge twice.

ht

🔹 Q60. What is distributed locking?

Used to prevent multiple processes modifying same data

Tools:
●​ Redis locks​
 ●​ Zookeeper​

🔹 Q61. What is horizontal vs vertical scaling?

Type Description

l/
pa
Vertical Increase CPU/RAM

ep
Horizontal Add more servers
Node apps usually scale horizontally

de
🔹 Q62. What is load balancing?
an
/s
Distributes traffic across multiple servers.
/in
om

Tools:
●​ Nginx​
.c
in

●​ AWS ELB​
ed

🔹 Q63. What is circuit breaker pattern?

k
lin
w.

Prevents system failure when downstream service fails.

w
//w

Example
If payment service down → stop retrying → fallback response
s:
tp

🔹 Q64. What is API gateway?

ht

API gateway is single entry point for microservices.

Responsibilities:
●​ Authentication​

●​ Routing​
 ●​ Rate limiting​

●​ Logging​

🔹 Q65. What is CQRS pattern?

l/
pa
CQRS = Command Query Responsibility Segregation
Separate:

ep
●​ Read operations​

de
●​ Write operations​

an
/s
Benefit: /in
Better scalability for large systems
om

🔹 Q66. How do you design a scalable [Link] backend

.c
in

architecture?
k ed

Answer
lin

Use layered + modular architecture with horizontal scalability.

w.

Production Architecture
w
//w

Client → CDN → Load Balancer → API Gateway → Node Services → DB/Cache/Queue

s:

Key design principles:

tp

●​ Stateless services​
ht

●​ Horizontal scaling​

●​ Externalized state (Redis, DB)​

●​ API gateway for routing​

🔹 Q67. What is microservices architecture in [Link]?
Microservices split application into independent deployable services.

Example services:
●​ Auth Service​

l/
●​ Order Service​

pa
●​ Payment Service​

ep
de
●​ Notification Service​

an
Benefits:

/s
●​ Independent deployment​
/in
om

●​ Team ownership​

●​ Scalability per service​

.c
in

🔹 Q68. What is monolith vs microservices?

k ed
lin

Monolith Microservices
w.

Single Multiple services

w

codebase
//w

Simple to start Complex but

scalable
s:

Tight coupling Loose coupling

tp
ht

🔹 Q69. What is API Gateway in production?

API gateway acts as single entry point.

Responsibilities:
●​ Auth verification​
 ●​ Rate limiting​

●​ Routing​

●​ Response aggregation​

l/
Tools:

pa
●​ Kong​

ep
●​ NGINX​

de
●​ AWS API Gateway​

an
🔹 Q70. What is service discovery? /s
/in
om

Services dynamically discover each other.

.c

Tools:
in

●​ Consul​
ed

●​ Eureka​
k
lin

●​ Kubernetes DNS​
w.
w

🔹 Q71. What is Docker and why is it used with [Link]?

//w
s:

Docker packages app + dependencies into container.

tp

Benefits:
ht

●​ Same environment everywhere​

●​ Easy deployment​

●​ Isolation​
🔹 Q72. Example Dockerfile for [Link]
FROM node:20
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .
CMD ["node", "[Link]"]

l/
pa
🔹 Q73. What is Kubernetes (K8s)?

ep
de
Kubernetes orchestrates containers.

an
Features:

/s
●​ Auto scaling​ /in
●​ Self healing​
om

●​ Rolling deployment​
.c
in

🔹 Q74. What is CI/CD pipeline?

k ed
lin

Automates:
●​ Build​
w.

●​ Test​
w
//w

●​ Deploy​
s:
tp

Tools:
ht

●​ GitHub Actions​

●​ Jenkins​

●​ Azure DevOps​
🔹 Q75. How do you manage environment configurations?
Use:
●​ .env files​

●​ Secret managers (Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager)​

l/
🔹 Q76. What is logging in [Link] production apps?

pa
ep
Logging tracks system activity.

de
Tools:

an
●​ Winston​

/s
●​ Pino​
/in
om

Best practice:
.c

Log:
in

●​ request id​
ed

●​ user id​
k
lin

●​ error stack​
w.
w

🔹 Q77. What is monitoring?

//w
s:

Monitoring checks system health.

tp

Tools:
ht

●​ Prometheus​

●​ Grafana​

●​ Datadog​
🔹 Q78. What is distributed tracing?
Tracks request across microservices.

Tools:
●​ Jaeger​

l/
●​ Zipkin​

pa
ep
🔹 Q79. What is health check endpoint?

de
an
Used by load balancers to verify service health.
[Link]('/health', (req, res) => [Link]("OK"))

🔹 Q80. What is blue-green deployment? /s

/in
om

Two environments:
.c

●​ Blue (current)​
in

●​ Green (new)​
ed

Switch traffic after testing.

k
lin

🔹 Q81. What is canary deployment?

w.
w

Release to small % of users first.

//w

Example
s:
tp

Deploy to 5% users → monitor → full rollout

ht

🔹 Q82. What is rollback strategy?

Revert to previous stable version if failure occurs.

🔹 Q83. How do you handle secrets in Node apps?

Never store secrets in code.
Use:
●​ env variables​

●​ vault services​

🔹 Q84. What is rate limiting at infrastructure level?

l/
pa
Implemented at:

ep
●​ API gateway​

de
●​ NGINX​

an
●​ Cloudflare​

/s
/in
🔹 Q85. What is zero downtime deployment?
om

Deploy without interrupting active users.

.c
in

Techniques:
ed

●​ Rolling updates​
k
lin

●​ Blue-green​
w.

●​ Canary​
w
//w

🔹 Q86. What is CDN and why used?

s:
tp

CDN caches static content globally.

ht

Example
Cloudflare for:
●​ images​

●​ js files​
🔹 Q87. What is SSR vs CSR in Node ecosystem?
SSR CSR

Server renders HTML Browser renders

SEO friendly Faster client

interactions

l/
pa
🔹 Q88. What is BFF (Backend for Frontend)?

ep
de
Separate backend tailored for each frontend.

an
Example

/s
●​ Mobile BFF​ /in
●​ Web BFF​
om

🔹 Q89. What is feature flagging?

.c
in
ed

Enable/disable features without deployment.

k
lin

Tools:
w.

●​ LaunchDarkly​
w

●​ Firebase Remote Config​

//w

🔹 Q90. What is graceful shutdown in [Link]?

s:
tp
ht

Ensures:
●​ No data loss​

●​ Close DB connections​

●​ Finish ongoing requests​

[Link]('SIGTERM', async () => {

await [Link]()
 })
ht
tp
s:
//w
w
w.
lin
ked
in
.c
om
/in
/s
an
de
ep
pa
l/