Building Distributed Systems with Java Practice Exam
Building Distributed Systems with Java Practice Exam
About Building Distributed Systems with Java Exam
This exam focuses on evaluating a candidate's understanding and practical expertise in building distributed systems using Java. The exam will test knowledge in designing, developing, and managing scalable and reliable distributed applications. It covers topics such as system architecture, communication protocols, fault tolerance, concurrency, synchronization, data consistency, and handling network failures. Candidates will need to demonstrate proficiency in Java-based technologies, frameworks, and tools necessary for creating robust distributed systems, including Java’s concurrency model, multi-threading, messaging systems (such as Kafka, RabbitMQ), microservices architecture, and cloud-native development.
Skills Required
- A strong grasp of core Java concepts, object-oriented design, and JVM internals.
- Understanding of key concepts such as distributed system architectures, communication protocols (REST, gRPC), CAP theorem, fault tolerance, consensus algorithms (e.g., Paxos, Raft), and consistency models.
- Proficiency in Java's concurrency mechanisms, including threading, synchronization, thread pools, and handling shared resources in multi-threaded environments.
- Experience in setting up and using message brokers like Kafka, RabbitMQ, and handling event-driven communication between distributed services.
- Knowledge of building and managing microservices using Spring Boot, and exposing RESTful or gRPC APIs for communication between services.
- Familiarity with distributed databases, CAP theorem, and managing data consistency across distributed systems.
- Implementing strategies for failure recovery, retries, and ensuring the robustness of distributed systems.
- Knowledge of deploying Java-based distributed systems, using tools like Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP), as well as monitoring tools for performance and availability.
Who should take the Exam?
- Developers with experience in Java who are looking to specialize in building distributed systems and microservices architectures.
- System Architects and DevOps Engineers
- Anyone interested in expanding their knowledge and skills in distributed systems, specifically using Java, and gaining expertise to tackle challenges related to scalability, reliability, and performance.
- Programmers who have an intermediate understanding of Java and want to deepen their knowledge in building high-performing, distributed systems using modern frameworks and cloud-native solutions.
Course Outline
The Building Distributed Systems with Java Exam covers the following topics -
Domain 1. Fundamentals of Distributed Systems
- Evolution of Computer System Architectures
- Challenges in Scaling Distributed Systems
- Practical Applications of Distributed Systems in This Course
Domain 2. Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- The Importance of Communication in Distributed Systems
- Message Transport Mechanisms and Formats
- Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Communication Models
- Traditional Load Balancing Techniques
- Service Discovery and Registration
- Service Mesh Architectures
- Designing Idempotent Services
Domain 3. Distributed Databases
- Comparing Relational Databases (RDBMS) and NoSQL Systems
- Techniques for Data Sharding and Consistent Hashing
- Understanding the CAP Theorem
- Introduction to Apache Cassandra
Domain 4. Cluster Coordination
- The Need for Cluster-Wide Coordination in Distributed Systems
- Understanding the RAFT Consensus Algorithm
- Introduction to ETCD
- Implementing a Distributed Mutex
- The Leader Election Design Pattern
- Deployment Considerations for Consistent Distributed Systems
- ACID Properties in a Distributed Context
Domain 5. Distributed Messaging Systems
- Asynchronous Communication and Message-Oriented Middleware
- Overview of Apache Kafka
- Using Apache Kafka in Distributed Systems
- Event-Driven Architecture Principles
