BackendDevOps/CloudFrontendHigh signal
Graceful Degradation
Also written as Degraded Mode, Fail Open
Designing a system so that when one part fails, the rest keeps working with reduced function instead of the whole thing going down.
Think of it like
A supermarket whose card machines fail still sells for cash, rather than closing the doors.
Junior or senior?
High signal, because it requires deciding in advance which features are worth sacrificing.
Senior sounds like
Can name what their system drops first under stress.
Ask them
“When your system was under strain, what did you turn off first, and who decided that?”