20 Heroku Interview Questions and Answers

Heroku is a cloud platform that enables developers to deploy, manage, and scale their applications. It is a popular platform for developers who want to quickly and easily deploy their applications without the hassle of managing infrastructure. If you are interviewing for a position that involves Heroku, it is likely that the interviewer will ask you questions about your experience with the platform. In this article, we discuss the most common Heroku interview questions and how you should answer them.

Heroku Interview Questions and Answers

Here are 20 commonly asked Heroku interview questions and answers to prepare you for your interview:

1. What are the main benefits of using Heroku?

The main benefits of using Heroku are that it is a cloud-based platform, which makes it very scalable and easy to use. Additionally, Heroku provides a number of features and tools that make it a very powerful platform for developing and deploying web applications.

2. Can you explain what a dyno is in context with Heroku?

A dyno is a lightweight Linux container that is used to run an application on the Heroku platform. Each dyno has its own resources and can be used to run a single process or multiple processes in parallel.

3. Is it possible to perform database migrations on Heroku? If yes, then how?

Yes, it is possible to perform database migrations on Heroku. In order to do so, you will need to use the Heroku Toolbelt to access the Heroku Postgres database. Once you have access to the database, you can use the pg:migrate command to run any necessary database migrations.

4. How can you manage large images and videos when using Heroku?

There are a few ways to manage large images and videos when using Heroku. One way is to use a third-party service like Cloudinary. Cloudinary offers a Heroku add-on that makes it easy to upload, store, and serve images and videos. Another way to manage large images and videos is to use Amazon S3. You can use the Amazon S3 add-on for Heroku to upload and store files in an S3 bucket.

5. What’s the best way to scale an app up or down when using Heroku?

The best way to scale an app up or down when using Heroku is to use the Heroku Platform API. This API allows you to change the number of dynos that are running for your app, as well as the size of those dynos. This way, you can make sure that you have the right amount of resources available for your app at all times.

6. What do you understand about Git? Why is it important for developers who use Heroku?

Git is a distributed version control system that is used for tracking changes in source code during software development. It is important for developers who use Heroku because it allows them to easily collaborate on code and track changes.

7. How do I access my code that’s hosted on Heroku?

You can access your code that’s hosted on Heroku by using the git clone command. This will allow you to download a copy of your code onto your local machine.

8. Is it possible to deploy multiple applications from a single GitHub repository?

Yes, it is possible to deploy multiple applications from a single GitHub repository. You would need to set up each application in its own folder within the repository, and then you would need to configure the Heroku toolbelt to deploy each application separately.

9. How much does it cost to run a small application on Heroku?

The cost of running a small application on Heroku will depend on the specific requirements of your application. However, in general, you can expect to pay around $7-10 per month for a small application.

10. What kind of background jobs can I expect to run smoothly on Heroku?

Any background jobs that can be run asynchronously without blocking the main web process will run smoothly on Heroku. This includes jobs that are CPU-intensive, jobs that need to make external network calls, and jobs that are I/O-intensive.

11. What are Dynos? What happens if there isn’t enough memory available for running them?

Dynos are the containers that Heroku uses to run applications. If there isn’t enough memory available to run a dyno, then it will be killed and restarted automatically.

12. What is your opinion on the security measures taken by Heroku?

I believe that Heroku does a great job in terms of security. They have a lot of features in place to help keep your app safe, including automatic security updates, a robust firewall, and encrypted data storage.

13. In which situations would you want to choose Heroku over other cloud-based platforms like Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft Azure?

One key advantage of Heroku is its ease of use; it is designed to be very simple and straightforward to deploy and manage applications. This can be a major advantage over other platforms, which can be more complex and difficult to use. Additionally, Heroku offers a wide range of features and services that can be easily integrated into applications, making it a very versatile platform.

14. How do you manage databases when using Heroku?

When using Heroku, you can manage databases using the Heroku Postgres add-on. This add-on provides you with a managed PostgreSQL database that you can use to store your data. You can also use other database management tools, such as the Heroku Toolbelt, to manage your databases.

15. What is the difference between Heroku and AWS S3?

Heroku is a cloud platform that offers developers a way to deploy, manage, and scale their applications. AWS S3 is a cloud storage service that provides a place to store data for websites and applications. Heroku is more focused on application development and deployment, while AWS S3 is more focused on storage.

16. What are some alternatives to Heroku?

Some alternatives to Heroku include:

– AWS Elastic Beanstalk
– Google App Engine
– Microsoft Azure
– Apache Tomcat

17. What are buildpacks?

Buildpacks are a set of scripts that are used to compile and deploy applications on Heroku. They are responsible for taking your code and dependencies and packaging them up in a way that can be run on the Heroku platform.

18. What is the best way to switch between different environments during development?

The best way to switch between different environments during development is to use the Heroku Toolbelt. The Toolbelt is a command line interface that allows you to manage your Heroku apps and configs from your terminal. With the Toolbelt, you can easily switch between different environments by running the `heroku config:set` command.

19. What are the differences between Heroku and Docker?

The main difference between Heroku and Docker is that Heroku is a cloud platform as a service (PaaS) that provides users with a ready-to-use environment for developing, deploying, and managing applications, while Docker is a containerization platform that allows users to package applications into isolated containers so that they can be run anywhere.

Heroku is a managed platform, which means that the platform itself takes care of many of the details of managing and running applications, such as provisioning, scaling, monitoring, and logging. Docker, on the other hand, is an open-source platform, which means that users have more control over how their applications are run and managed.

20. What are the primary functions performed by Heroku?

The primary functions performed by Heroku are to manage, deploy, scale, and monitor applications.