Senior/Staff/Principal/Architect Angular interview question — Managing Version Updates During Idle Sessions in Angular and .NET Applications Deployed on Azure/AWS/GCP, Server side rendering
Introduction
In the fast-paced world of enterprise web applications, especially those delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS), it’s common for users to keep their sessions open for extended periods. Imagine a user logged into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, working on a customer quotation, and then leaving their browser tab open overnight. Meanwhile, your development team rolls out an update to the application, deploying new features or critical bug fixes. When the user returns and tries to continue their work, they might encounter unexpected errors because their session is now running on outdated assets — such as JavaScript and CSS files — while the server is running a newer version.
This scenario is common in enterprise environments and can lead to a frustrating user experience. In this story, we’ll explore this problem, discuss why it happens, and review several strategies to mitigate or solve it, specifically within the context of an Angular front-end with a .NET back-end. We’ll also cover scenarios involving different deployment environments, including static hosting on platforms like Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, and server-side rendered applications.
