mckoyd · July 20, 2025 07:42
diff --git a/Mock Interview Questions b/Mock Interview Questions
 1. Describe the HTTP requests/response lifecycle.
 Amazing site on describing the entire process in visual detail.
 https://dev.to/dangolant/things-i-brushed-up-on-this-week-the-http-request-lifecycle-
 Amazing video describing the process with cool visual effects
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eesqK59rhGA
 Slides courtesy of Chris Klanac and Thinkful
 http://thinkful.slides.com/thinkful/node-express#/4
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 When a user/client types a URL into their favorite browser, the BROWSER understands this as 
 a request using the GET method to a server and first gets the protocol (http protocol in most instances), 
 then the host (like www.google.com), sometimes a port number (though optional), and the resource path 
 (like /api or /index.html).  If there's a query string (denoted by a ?), it will come after the
 resource path (for example ?searchTerm=gaga).  (If we were using something like a POST method,
 a payload or body will be added to the request).
 If successful, the server sends a response (for example its payload may include 
 html pages, css, js, and other resources), a status code (in this case 200), and some header
 information.
 ==================================FROM THE READING==========================================
 First, a client makes a request to an HTTP server. The client opens a connection to the server and sends a request message.
 At a minimum, the request message contains the request method (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE), the HTTP protocol and 
 version being used, as well as the host (e.g., www.example.com). The request may also contain a body if, for instance, the 
 user is posting a form or uploading a file.
 - Request:
  - 


 2. Describe the architecture of a basic Express app. How is it organized?
 A thorough, readable description of both Node and Express
 https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Server-side/Express_Nodejs/Introduction
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 Well Express is a popular web framework for Node, so let me explain Node first.
 In short, Node is a runtime environment that allows developers to code in JavaScript
 outside of the browser, allowing the ability to create server-side apps using only
 JavaScript. Node also has its own package manager with a dependency resolution
 that can be used to automate the apps build tools (starting with a simple npm install).
 Back to Express, its library gives us the ability to write handlers for CRUD methods,
 as well as set up the port for connecting and construct the template for the response.
 Express uses "middleware", allowing us to handle the request from the client side
 in a chain of processes (most including promises that handle asynchronous operations).
 A sample Express architecture will include a server.js file that 'requires' the express
 module, handles a request at any or all endpoints via middleware as well as any errors, 
 then 'listens' on a specified port number.

 3. Tell me about a time when you've used Express Router. How was it helpful?
 Refer to previous resource.
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 Express Routers help add modularity and readability to your app file structure. I've used them
 in apps in which I would run different HTTP verbs on a number of different endpoints.
 Keeping all of these handlers in the server file can get cumbersome and make it difficult to find 
 bugs reading all of that code in one place.  With Express Routers, you can move all CRUD 
 methods that relate to a specific api into its own folder and files, exporting the router to use
 in your server.js file via module.exports.  This is also extremely beneficial for others
 reading your code, making it much easier to follow, enhance, debug, etc.

 4. What's your experience with continuous integration? How has it helped you?
 Slides courtesy of Chris Klanac and Thinkful
 http://thinkful.slides.com/thinkful/mocha-chai#/
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 Continous integration is awesome; we can constantly make changes to the code, testing to
 ensure that no functionality was broken. In my experience, which has recently been in test-driven 
 development, the continuous integration process has been to write tests, then write code to pass
 those tests, then set up a separate server (like Travis CI whcih is set up to work with GitHub) 
 to run tests every time you commit so that each feature is tested for each developer 
 each time they change their code.  That way, if a feature does not pass all tests, it doesn't get 
 included in the final production.

 5. Describe how a Mongo database is structured.
 Mongo CheatSheet from Thinkful
 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzxWJx1gb9orbmtmdlVBTWd5aUU/view
 Slides courtesy of Chris Klanac and Thinkful
 http://thinkful.slides.com/thinkful/mongodb#/
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 The easiest way for me to describe this is by comparing the Mongo database to the SQL
 database. In SQL, each database is organized into tables. In Mongo, each database is 
 organized into collections (which is represented via BSON, extending the JSON model to provide additional data types, ordered fields, 
 and to be efficient for encoding and decoding within different languages).  While a table will have a number of columns and rows,
 a collection will have a number of documents each with its own fields. And although there
 are many similarities between SQL databases and Mongo databases, the major difference is 
 that Mongo databases are extremely flexible in how the document is stuctured (each document 
 is not required to have the same amount of fields) while SQL requires each row to have the 
 same amount of columns.  SQL also needs it data to be structured before inserting data,
 whereas Mongo is flexible enough to accept unstructured data.
 ================================REMEMBER==========================================
 Don't forget to study: SQL joins compared to references in Mongo, ORM's (Object relational mapping)
 for SQL (like knex) versus Mongo (like mongoose)

 6. How do JSON web tokens work?
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 JSON web tokens give users temporary authorization to access protected end points.

 7. What is the purpose of bcrypt in the authentication process?
 ==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
 Bcrypt allows us to hash passwords (which conveniently gives developers a one-way transformation, 
 that makes it difficult to recover passwords from hashes) and adds a salt
 (which provides a unique string of letters and numbers to add to the hash as an extra layer of 
 security). The major difference between bcrypt and other hashing modules like md5 is that 
 bcrypt hashes passwords slowly, increasing the time it would take a potential attacker to 
 crack the hash.
	1. Describe the HTTP requests/response lifecycle.
	Amazing site on describing the entire process in visual detail.
	https://dev.to/dangolant/things-i-brushed-up-on-this-week-the-http-request-lifecycle-
	Amazing video describing the process with cool visual effects
	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eesqK59rhGA
	Slides courtesy of Chris Klanac and Thinkful
	http://thinkful.slides.com/thinkful/node-express#/4
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	When a user/client types a URL into their favorite browser, the BROWSER understands this as
	a request using the GET method to a server and first gets the protocol (http protocol in most instances),
	then the host (like www.google.com), sometimes a port number (though optional), and the resource path
	(like /api or /index.html). If there's a query string (denoted by a ?), it will come after the
	resource path (for example ?searchTerm=gaga). (If we were using something like a POST method,
	a payload or body will be added to the request).
	If successful, the server sends a response (for example its payload may include
	html pages, css, js, and other resources), a status code (in this case 200), and some header
	information.
	==================================FROM THE READING==========================================
	First, a client makes a request to an HTTP server. The client opens a connection to the server and sends a request message.
	At a minimum, the request message contains the request method (GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE), the HTTP protocol and
	version being used, as well as the host (e.g., www.example.com). The request may also contain a body if, for instance, the
	user is posting a form or uploading a file.
	- Request:
	-


	2. Describe the architecture of a basic Express app. How is it organized?
	A thorough, readable description of both Node and Express
	https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Server-side/Express_Nodejs/Introduction
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	Well Express is a popular web framework for Node, so let me explain Node first.
	In short, Node is a runtime environment that allows developers to code in JavaScript
	outside of the browser, allowing the ability to create server-side apps using only
	JavaScript. Node also has its own package manager with a dependency resolution
	that can be used to automate the apps build tools (starting with a simple npm install).
	Back to Express, its library gives us the ability to write handlers for CRUD methods,
	as well as set up the port for connecting and construct the template for the response.
	Express uses "middleware", allowing us to handle the request from the client side
	in a chain of processes (most including promises that handle asynchronous operations).
	A sample Express architecture will include a server.js file that 'requires' the express
	module, handles a request at any or all endpoints via middleware as well as any errors,
	then 'listens' on a specified port number.

	3. Tell me about a time when you've used Express Router. How was it helpful?
	Refer to previous resource.
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	Express Routers help add modularity and readability to your app file structure. I've used them
	in apps in which I would run different HTTP verbs on a number of different endpoints.
	Keeping all of these handlers in the server file can get cumbersome and make it difficult to find
	bugs reading all of that code in one place. With Express Routers, you can move all CRUD
	methods that relate to a specific api into its own folder and files, exporting the router to use
	in your server.js file via module.exports. This is also extremely beneficial for others
	reading your code, making it much easier to follow, enhance, debug, etc.

	4. What's your experience with continuous integration? How has it helped you?
	Slides courtesy of Chris Klanac and Thinkful
	http://thinkful.slides.com/thinkful/mocha-chai#/
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	Continous integration is awesome; we can constantly make changes to the code, testing to
	ensure that no functionality was broken. In my experience, which has recently been in test-driven
	development, the continuous integration process has been to write tests, then write code to pass
	those tests, then set up a separate server (like Travis CI whcih is set up to work with GitHub)
	to run tests every time you commit so that each feature is tested for each developer
	each time they change their code. That way, if a feature does not pass all tests, it doesn't get
	included in the final production.

	5. Describe how a Mongo database is structured.
	Mongo CheatSheet from Thinkful
	https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzxWJx1gb9orbmtmdlVBTWd5aUU/view
	Slides courtesy of Chris Klanac and Thinkful
	http://thinkful.slides.com/thinkful/mongodb#/
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	The easiest way for me to describe this is by comparing the Mongo database to the SQL
	database. In SQL, each database is organized into tables. In Mongo, each database is
	organized into collections (which is represented via BSON, extending the JSON model to provide additional data types, ordered fields,
	and to be efficient for encoding and decoding within different languages). While a table will have a number of columns and rows,
	a collection will have a number of documents each with its own fields. And although there
	are many similarities between SQL databases and Mongo databases, the major difference is
	that Mongo databases are extremely flexible in how the document is stuctured (each document
	is not required to have the same amount of fields) while SQL requires each row to have the
	same amount of columns. SQL also needs it data to be structured before inserting data,
	whereas Mongo is flexible enough to accept unstructured data.
	================================REMEMBER==========================================
	Don't forget to study: SQL joins compared to references in Mongo, ORM's (Object relational mapping)
	for SQL (like knex) versus Mongo (like mongoose)

	6. How do JSON web tokens work?
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	JSON web tokens give users temporary authorization to access protected end points.

	7. What is the purpose of bcrypt in the authentication process?
	==================================CONVERSATIONAL===========================================
	Bcrypt allows us to hash passwords (which conveniently gives developers a one-way transformation,
	that makes it difficult to recover passwords from hashes) and adds a salt
	(which provides a unique string of letters and numbers to add to the hash as an extra layer of
	security). The major difference between bcrypt and other hashing modules like md5 is that
	bcrypt hashes passwords slowly, increasing the time it would take a potential attacker to
	crack the hash.
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