Sync calls (HTTP/gRPC) are simpler and give immediate response, but create tight coupling and can cascade failures. Async messaging improves decoupling and resilience, but adds eventual consistency and operational complexity (queues, retries, ordering).
Advanced answer
Deep dive
Expanding on the short answer — what usually matters in practice:
Explain the "why", not just the "what" (intuition + consequences).
Trade-offs: what you gain/lose (time, memory, complexity, risk).
Edge cases: empty inputs, large inputs, invalid inputs, concurrency.
Examples
A tiny example (an explanation template):
// Example: discuss trade-offs for "synchronous-vs-asynchronous-communication-—-what"
function explain() {
// Start from the core idea:
// Sync calls (HTTP/gRPC) are simpler and give immediate response, but create tight coupling
}
Common pitfalls
Too generic: no concrete trade-offs or examples.
Mixing average-case and worst-case (e.g., complexity).