As asked
What makes a sample app credible enough that developers copy from it without carrying bad patterns into production?
Sample answer outline
A credible sample app is small, runnable, and honest about what is production-grade and what is simplified. It should use current SDK APIs, secure secret handling, typed configuration, meaningful error handling, and tests around the integration path. The candidate should avoid building a toy that hides authentication, pagination, retries, or deployment concerns if those are central to real adoption. Strong answers include maintenance: version pinning, dependency updates, CI, and ownership when the API changes. Interviewers look for judgement about where completeness helps learning and where it becomes distracting.
Expect these follow-ups
- What is the first thing you would remove from an overbuilt sample app?
- How do you stop copied sample code from leaking secrets?
- How do you keep examples current across SDK versions?