Build fluency in the vocabulary of gradually migrating a legacy monolith to a new system.
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At standup, a dev mentions gradually routing an increasing share of traffic from a legacy monolith to a new service, one capability at a time, until the legacy system can finally be retired. What is this migration pattern called?
The strangler fig pattern gradually routes an increasing share of traffic from a legacy monolith to a new service, one capability at a time, until the legacy system can finally be retired once nothing depends on it anymore. A single, all-at-once cutover replacing the entire legacy system risks a much larger, riskier failure if something goes wrong during that one migration event. This gradual, capability-by-capability approach is what makes a large legacy migration manageable and reversible at each step.
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During a design review, the team wants a routing layer in front of both the legacy monolith and the new service, directing each request to whichever one currently owns that specific capability. Which capability supports this?
A routing facade sits in front of both the legacy monolith and the new service, directing each request to whichever system currently owns that specific capability, without the calling client needing to know which one that is. Requiring every client to track ownership directly couples that client to an internal migration detail that's actively changing. This routing facade is what lets a migration proceed incrementally without breaking every existing client along the way.
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In a code review, a dev notices the team keeps the legacy monolith's code for an already-migrated capability intact but unreachable, rather than deleting it immediately once traffic is routed elsewhere. What does this represent?
A rollback safety window keeps a migrated capability's legacy code intact but unreachable for a period, so the routing facade can quickly fall back to it if the new service reveals an unexpected problem. Deleting the legacy code immediately removes that safety net the moment it might still be needed. This temporary retention is what makes each incremental migration step genuinely reversible rather than a one-way, high-stakes commitment.
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An incident report shows a newly migrated capability had a serious bug in production, but the team couldn't roll back quickly because the corresponding legacy code had already been deleted right after the traffic cutover. What practice would prevent this?
Keeping a migrated capability's legacy code available for a defined rollback window before deleting it preserves the ability to quickly fall back if a serious bug surfaces in production. Deleting it immediately upon cutover removes that safety net right when it might still be needed. This rollback-window discipline is a core part of what makes the strangler fig pattern's incremental approach actually safe in practice.
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During a PR review, a teammate asks why the team migrates a legacy monolith gradually, capability by capability, instead of a single, all-at-once cutover to the new system. What is the reasoning?
A gradual, incremental migration limits the blast radius of a problem to just one recently migrated capability at a time, since the rest of the system is unaffected. An all-at-once cutover risks a much larger, harder-to-diagnose failure across the entire system simultaneously. The tradeoff is that a gradual migration takes considerably longer to fully complete and requires maintaining a routing facade throughout that entire process.
What does the "Strangler Fig Migration Vocabulary" vocabulary exercise cover?
This exercise tests real IT vocabulary related to strangler fig migration vocabulary through 5 multiple-choice questions, each built from realistic workplace sentences rather than abstract definitions.
Is this vocabulary exercise free to use?
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How many questions does this exercise have?
This exercise has 5 questions. Each one shows a real-world sentence or scenario with multiple-choice options and an explanation once you answer.
What happens after I answer a question?
You'll see immediate feedback showing whether your answer was correct, along with a short explanation of why — then a button to move to the next question, and a full results screen at the end.
Can I retry the exercise if I get questions wrong?
Yes. Once you reach the results screen, click "Try again" to reset your answers and go through the exercise from the start as many times as you like.
Do I need to create an account to take this exercise?
No account is needed. Your answers are scored in your browser during the session — nothing is saved to a server, so you can jump straight in.
Is my progress saved if I leave the page?
No — progress within an exercise resets if you navigate away or reload. Each exercise is short enough to complete in a few minutes in one sitting.
Are these vocabulary exercises connected to other topics?
Yes — browse the full vocabulary exercises hub to find related modules covering adjacent IT topics and roles.
How is this different from reading a glossary or blog article?
Exercises like this one are active recall drills — you have to choose the correct term or phrasing yourself, which builds retention faster than passively reading a definition.
Where can I find more vocabulary exercises?
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