What are the best practices for error handling in a large-scale Node.js application?

  • Avoiding error handling altogether for performance reasons.
  • Using global error handlers for unhandled errors.
  • Handling errors at the lowest level of code execution.
  • Logging errors but not taking any action.
In large-scale Node.js applications, best practices for error handling include handling errors at the lowest level of code execution, close to where they occur. This improves code maintainability and makes it easier to trace the source of errors. Avoiding error handling for performance reasons is a bad practice. Using global error handlers is suitable for unhandled errors, but it's essential to handle errors at the source first. Simply logging errors without taking corrective action is incomplete error handling.

You are building a RESTful API with Express to serve a mobile application. The mobile development team has asked for the ability to retrieve condensed responses to minimize data usage. How would you accommodate this request while maintaining the integrity of your API?

  • Create separate endpoints for condensed and full responses.
  • Use query parameters to allow clients to specify the response format.
  • Disable compression to send smaller payloads.
  • Use WebSocket instead of REST for real-time updates.
Using query parameters to allow clients to specify the response format is a common and RESTful approach to accommodating different client needs. Creating separate endpoints for each format can lead to redundancy and maintenance challenges. Disabling compression would likely increase, not decrease, data usage. Using WebSockets is for real-time communication and doesn't directly address response format concerns.

In what scenario would using Domain API be beneficial for error handling in Node.js?

  • When handling HTTP requests in Express.js.
  • When handling file I/O operations.
  • When creating a RESTful API.
  • When dealing with database connections.
The Domain API was deprecated in Node.js and is no longer recommended for use. It was originally designed to handle errors in scenarios like file I/O operations. However, it has been deprecated because it didn't provide a robust solution for error handling, and other mechanisms like try...catch and event listeners have become more standard for handling errors in modern Node.js applications. Using it is not advisable in any scenario.

When using a third-party storage service to store uploaded files, what is crucial to prevent unauthorized access?

  • Use predictable file names and URLs for easy access.
  • Share access credentials widely to simplify sharing files.
  • Implement proper access controls and use signed URLs or tokens.
  • Store files without any access restrictions for maximum accessibility.
When using a third-party storage service, it's crucial to prevent unauthorized access by implementing proper access controls and using mechanisms like signed URLs or tokens. This ensures that only authorized users can access the files while keeping them secure. Using predictable file names and URLs, sharing access credentials widely, or storing files without restrictions can lead to unauthorized access and security breaches.

What considerations should be made when implementing transactions in Sequelize for isolation and atomicity?

  • Choosing the appropriate isolation level
  • Ensuring that transactions are started manually
  • Avoiding the use of nested transactions
  • Setting the transaction mode to 'autocommit'
When implementing transactions in Sequelize for isolation and atomicity, you should consider choosing the appropriate isolation level based on your application's requirements. Transactions should typically be started manually, avoiding nested transactions for simplicity and maintainability. Setting the transaction mode to 'autocommit' would defeat the purpose of using transactions for atomicity.

How can you optimize the performance of a SQL query that reads a large amount of data?

  • Use indexes on columns frequently queried.
  • Avoid joins and subqueries.
  • Increase the page size of the database.
  • Fetch all data at once to minimize network latency.
To optimize the performance of a SQL query reading large data, you should use indexes on columns frequently queried. Indexes improve data retrieval speed. The other options may not necessarily lead to performance improvements and can even degrade performance.

You are developing a Node.js application that should gracefully shut down when it receives a termination signal. How would you accomplish this using the process object?

  • process.on('terminate', () => { /* Graceful shutdown code */ });
  • process.kill('SIGTERM', process.pid);
  • process.exit(0);
  • process.handleTermination(() => { /* Graceful shutdown code */ });
To gracefully shut down a Node.js application upon receiving a termination signal, you should use process.on('terminate', () => { /* Graceful shutdown code */ });. This registers an event handler for the 'terminate' event. The other options either do not handle termination signals gracefully or are incorrect syntax.

You are tasked with implementing a secure authentication system for a web application. What considerations should you make to ensure the security of user credentials and session information?

  • Store passwords in plain text
  • Use a secure hashing algorithm for password storage
  • Use HTTP for transmitting sensitive data
  • Keep session tokens in local storage
To ensure the security of user credentials and session information, you should use a secure hashing algorithm (like bcrypt) to store passwords, not store them in plain text. Additionally, sensitive data should not be transmitted over HTTP, and session tokens should be stored securely (not in local storage, which is vulnerable to cross-site scripting attacks).

What considerations should be made when deciding between using a mock and a stub in a test case?

  • The complexity of the test scenario
  • The need for recording method calls
  • The desire to control method behavior
  • The size of the test data
When deciding between using a mock and a stub in a test case, considerations should include the complexity of the test scenario, as mocks are generally more complex than stubs. Recording method calls is a characteristic of mocks, and controlling method behavior is a characteristic of stubs. The size of the test data is typically not directly related to choosing between mocks and stubs.

What is the first line of defense against injection attacks in web applications?

  • Using a web application firewall (WAF).
  • Escaping user input before displaying it.
  • Using strong authentication mechanisms.
  • Regularly updating server software.
The first line of defense against injection attacks in web applications is to escape or sanitize user input before displaying it on web pages. This prevents malicious code from being executed, protecting against common injection attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).