Architecture · interview question

A bug appears around idempotency. What is the strongest first debugging move?

Multiple choiceMediumchapter-18-curatedpremiumarchitectureidempotency

python

if repo.has_processed(event_id):
    return

Keep idempotency implicit so the script stays short and hope the next engineer infers the rule.Trace one concrete example, inspect the state transitions, and compare them to the intended rule before rewriting anything.Solve the symptom with comments only and avoid changing the code shape around idempotency.Delay clarity until production traffic reveals the edge case and then patch it under pressure.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer

B. Trace one concrete example, inspect the state transitions, and compare them to the intended rule before rewriting anything.

Why

That approach is reliable because it creates evidence. Assuming jobs run exactly once is a common systems mistake that surfaces only under pressure.

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A bug appears around idempotency. What is the strongest first debugging move?

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