Aem architect Interview Questions and Answers (2024)

AEM Interview Questions and Answers?

What is the purpose of the Activator.java file? Answer: The role or the purpose of the Activator.java file is to notify any time there is starting and stopping events for that bundle. The Activator.java file is considered as an optional listener class which is created when you create a bundle through crxde.

Explain the methods of Caching adopted by Dispatcher? Answer:Dispatcher employs the following techniques for caching: Content Updates invalidates outdated pages and replaces them with fresh content. Without physically removing any files, auto-invalidation utilized to automatically invalidate the outdated content portions.

How do you load digital assets in the dam? Answer: You can add the digital assets to your dam by making use of the graphical user interface or through WebDav accessing. If you are making use of the graphical user interface, you would just be browsing for the selected files you would like to be adding and then cq will create the metadata for those assets in the folder of dams. You would generally make use of the WebDav option when you wanted to upload a large number or assets at once.

Distinction between CRX2.0 and OAK (CRX3.0) Answer: According to its definition, CRX2.0 is the hare’s implementation, whereas the hare’s OAK is the hare’s OAK. Since CRX2.0 is the latest implementation, it utilizes the JCR fully as opposed to the OAK, which only uses the JCR as facades. While OAK’s microkernel writes information in accordance with the underlying sound unit, CRX2.0’s persistence manager writes data as blobs. Lucene is used by CRX2.0, but Solr is used by OAK. While OAK uses MongoDB, CRX2.0 does not support the bunch.

Explain DAM Renditions? Answer: The DAM allows you to create the renditions of an that includes the different versions and sizes of the same asset. You can be capable of using those renditions in the content of your website and that can be much helpful when you need to create the thumbnails or smaller views of the large, high-resolution s. When you create the multi-device websites where the Internet bandwidth is a varying concern then this feature is becoming even more important. After all, you want to minimize the size of any files a site visitor has to download to view your site. Making your site load faster improves your optimization of search engines and the user experience.

What is AEM Explorer?

Sometimes, Application Explorer Missions is abbreviated as AEM Explorer which is designed for readers with low vision, physical challenges, and learning and attentional difficulties who may benefit from enlarged, spoken, highlighted, or re-formatted text. It does not address Braille use, and the Explorer assumes that the guide using the application has a vision.

What is AEM Testing?

For automated tests for your AEM UI, AEM provides the Bobcat testing framework. This framework, which provides a Javascript API for generating tests, allows you to write and run UI tests directly in a web browser. It also makes use of Hobbes.js, a Javascript-based testing package. The Hobbes.js framework was created as part of the development process for testing AEM and is now available for public usage for testing your AEM apps. Its an open-source test automation framework for web application functional testing.

List some advantages of AEM?

Some Advantages of AEM are as follows.

• It can Control and Reduce Costs.
• It has a Minimized Risk.
• It can Increase Productivity.
• 24/7/365 Monitoring of Your AEM Environment
• It is Accessed to the Most Current Technology.
• It has Flexibility and Scalability qualities.
• It provides Strategic Consulting and Future Planning.
• With the use of it, You Can Focus on Your Core Business and Drive More Value from your AEM Investment.

What is Template in AEM?

A Template is used to create a Page. It also defines which components(reusable modules) can be used within the selected scope. It is a hierarchy of nodes that has the same structure as the page to be created. It does not include any actual content.

What is workflow in AEM?

In AEM, the workflow allows users to automate the activities in the CMS instance. A workflow is a well-defined series of steps that consists of various steps, including participants, process, and some tools. it can either be sequential or.

What is Sightly in AEM?

Sightly is an HTML templating language that was introduced in AEM 6.0. It was mainly introduced to take the place of JSP files and as an approved templating system for HTML.

Sightly works as a new HTML templating engine and replaces the JSP and ESP as the predominant templating engine for AEM 6. Adobe has launched Sightly to produce more readable, maintainable, and secure code while distinctly separating the logic and markup.

Why is AEM preferable over other Content Management Systems (CMS)? What level of control does AEM provide you with?

The capacity to build custom digital experiences that are customised to the particular user is AEMs major benefit. AEM lets customers manage digital content efficiently by providing best-in-class features such as content workflows, digital asset management, social, and multi-channel collaboration. AEM is an amazing solution for managing mobile applications, mobile websites, eCommerce, and marketing campaigns, in addition to simple website management. AEM provides a road ahead for digital marketing when combined with other Adobe Marketing Cloud tools.

Without having to work on numerous sets of assets, AEM allows you to create unlimited customizable variations of your website, including the format, distribution method, styles, and more. By connecting with Adobe Creative Cloud to develop and modify assets, AEM makes it simple to connect your creative and marketing workflows. With straightforward content authoring, AEM enables your team to design, build, and manage interactive and responsive digital experiences. An easy-to-use interface can be used to handle s, videos, content, and any other content components. Adobe Analytics data can help you create tailored and targeted experiences. Examine your customers habits and make the required changes to your website to boost engagement and income.

Explain the difference between CQ5.4 and CQ5.5.

Before version 5.5, CQ was built on a servlet container (CQSE by default, but others may be used) that ran multiple web applications: one for the CRX content repository and another for the OSGi container, which contained Sling and AEM. The majority of the request processing was handled by the Sling web app, which was connected to the root. The following are some points to remember for CQ5.5:

• The OSGi container is at the root of CQ 5.5 and AEM, with the OSGi HTTP service, supported by Sling, acting as the only request handling endpoint.
• Along with the many services that make up the rest of the AEM functionality, the CRX content repository is now just another OSGi service. These modifications have no impact on AEM or Sling-based apps.
• Because of the new design, AEMs quickstart jar installation can no longer enable the use of other web applications alongside AEM.
• The war version of AEM, on the other hand, is designed to be installed in an application server alongside other web applications.
• Three new connectors for Adobe products – Creative Suite, Scene7, and Search&Promote – have been added.
• The authors will be able to work directly on mobile applications.
• Hybrid software was partnered with to give some wonderful eCommerce functionality.
• Undo(Ctrl+z) and Redo(Ctrl+y) functions have been added.

What are the advantages of AEM CMS CQ5 over another CMS?

Following is a list of some great advantages of AEM CMS CQ5 over another CMS:

• One of the biggest advantages of AEM CQ5 over another CMS (Content Management System) is its integration with other products from Adobe and with the Adobe Marketing Cloud.
• AEM can create custom digital experiences personalized to the individual user.
• AEM provides best-in-class features such as content workflows, digital asset management, social and multi-channel collaboration, etc.
• AEM allows users to manage digital content easily and effectively.
• AEM is far beyond simple website management. It provides an impressive solution to managing mobile applications, mobile websites, eCommerce, and marketing campaign management.
• AEM is complemented with other Adobe Marketing Cloud solutions and provides a path forward for digital marketing.
• By default, AEM comes with built-in features such as workflows to control content in the CMS, the use of search queries to find anything you are looking for, setting up social collaboration, tagging content, and a way to manage your digital content easily.
• AEM also provides a way to manage mobile applications, mobile websites, e-commerce, and marketing campaign management.

Role of Dispatcher in CQ5?

The dispatcher is a CQ5 caching and/or load balancing tool. The dispatcher also helps to protect your AEM server from attack. It caches responses from publishing instances, to increase the responsiveness and security of your externally facing published website

What is Replication? and What are the steps involved in Replication?

Replication is the process of activating/publishing the page from Author Instance to Process Instance.

Steps involved in replication:

• The author requests that certain content be published (activated); this can be initiated by a manual request, or by automatic triggers that have been preconfigured.
• The request is passed to the appropriate default replication agent; an environment can have several default agents that will always be selected for such actions.
• The replication agent “packages” the content and places it in the replication queue.
• The content is lifted from the queue and transported to the publish environment using the configured protocol; usually, this is HTTP.
• A servlet in the publish environment receives the request and publishes the received content; the default servlet is https://localhost:4503/bin/receive.

What is parsys and iparsys in AEM?

The paragraph system (parsys) is a compound component that allows authors to add components of different types to a page and contains all other paragraph components. On the other side, iparsys is a parsys that inherits its content from the ancestor pages.

What happens if replication fails in AEM?

If the AEM replication fails, the action must be taken according to the situation. If the replications are getting queued in the replication agent queues, it can be checked by accessing the /etc/replication/agents.author.html. Click replication agents to analyse the situation.

How would you design a global implementation of Header and Footer?

Headers and Footers are like the first and foremost thing we design for a website based on a requirement and need of the client. I would like to share few of the handy approaches which might help you design it better:

1. Site Content Hierarchy Component: For this approach, you have to build up a Header/Footer component which will pick up the Site hierarchy as defined and showcase it in the Header / Footer Menu. The authors can define a content path below which all the pages are picked and displayed based on the page depth. You may also allow authors to define the max page depth for the navigation.
2. Global Configuration Page: The idea behind this approach is to develop a global configuration page wherein CQ-authors can define the Navigation based on primary, secondary and tertiary (etc.) levels and then that configuration may be picked for all the pages in the site. This approach gives a very good restriction for the site navigation as the specific Global Configuration Page can be made accessible to limited Admin users only. The second advantage of this design is that site hierarchy is not acting any role and authors can define any of the pages links to be displayed in Navigation.
3. Template Specific Design: This approach uses design dialog wherein either the component defined in Approach 1 above OR a different component where users can add links and pages as per requirement could be dropped. This will make the Navigation fixed for a particular template only and not for the complete site.
4. Global Design with iParsys: This approach uses iParsys in addition to the component defined in Approach 1 above OR a different component where users can add links and pages as per requirement could be dropped. This will make the Navigation applicable for the complete site and if the user needs a different Navigation to be displayed he can just Disable inheritance and author a different Navigation component for its child pages. This is by far the easiest and widely used approach.

You have a lot of brands – Nike, Adidas etc and in your AEM content structure, there are a lot of pages of these brands. You cannot segregate the site hierarchy for these brands. The client is expecting a different theme for all these brands. How would your solution be?

I would approach the problem with a few solutions I can think of:

• Global Configuration Page ( Assuming Dynamic CSS): Make a Global Configuration Page wherein users can specify which brand has what CSS/theme included. This configuration page could be used to select a particular brand, its CSS (either path of CSS file already fixed or include a zip package), its logo or any other changes particular to a brand. All the pages would pick the CSS file from this global configuration page and would apply that theme based on that brand. The brand could be identified either by using Tags on the page, selectors for particular brands or by using pre-specified path.
• Considering Fixed CSS: If we have fixed CSS file, we may map them directly with the Tags on the page. If a particular Tag is present on the page (e.g. Nike, Adidas), the CSS would be included directly on that specific page. The Tags could be authored by CQ authors from the Page properties.  We can also approach the problem using selectors.
• Segregation: A better and ideal scenario would be if we could have segregated the brands in a particular site hierarchy so that one theme could be applied for all the pages under a node for a particular brand.

You might be aware that whenever I upload a DAM asset in AEM, a back-end workflow gets triggered. Now I have to upload approx 3000 dam assets of various sizes in my AEM instance and I don’t want to burden my instance with thousands of workflows at once. How shall I go about it?

• Transfer from FileSystem to CQ instance: In order to bulk upload a large number of assets, generally WebDav is used. There is a great blog post which explains graphically regarding the steps involved in that.
• Transfer from one CQ Instance to another: There are multiple options available in CQ to move content from one CQ instance to another.  These include “replication” (author->publish), and create package->export->install elsewhere. The File Vault (vlt) tool has a Remote Copy (rcp) option as well – one that is especially useful if you are moving GB or TB of digital assets (JCR node type dam:Asset) from DEV to STAGING to PRODUCTION.  Just make sure you disable DAM workflow while transferring DAM assets from one instance to another.

You have the data stored in an external database which has a lot of tables. Your task is to import that data into CQ5. How will you approach the scenario?

In general, the default TarPM persistence manager gives better performance than most RDBMS alternatives for the typical CRX use cases (involving web content and user management). But in certain situations, with certain use cases, performance with TarPM can take a hit. The most common problem? Big Flat Lists.

Although read performance remains good, write performance can suffer in the case where you need to store, say, thousands of sibling nodes under one parent node. This has to do with the fact that TarPM is an append-only store in which objects are immutable and never overwritten, only rewritten. What it means is that the cost of adding (or updating) Node No. N-thousand-plus-one can be quite high.

Solution: 

• Divide and Conquer: Break the nodes up into smaller groups, preferably hierarchical groups. Suppose you have a large number of users whose user-data you want to store in CRX, and you’d like to be able to store users by name. The naive way would be to store Joe Smith under a node named users/joe_smith, Lee Jones under users/lee_jones, etc. But after a thousand names or so, performance will start to suffer noticeably as new entries are written to the repository. Far better performance will result if container nodes (buckets) are created for each letter of the alphabet, and for each Last Name, so that you can add Joe Smith as /users/S/Smith/Joe, for example.

• Hash user IDs: A more sophisticated approach would be to hash user IDs and chunk the hash to form an ad-hoc hierarchy. For example, “Joe Smith” might give a hash of ab12cd34. The user data for Joe Smith can be stored at users/ab/12/cd/34. When the time comes to look up data for Joe Smith, you would first hash the name (to obtain ab12cd34), then create the necessary path from the hash, and look up the data.

• BTreeManager: As it turns out, the Jackrabbit API  offers yet another alternative for efficient hierarchical storage of arbitrary data, in the form of the BTreeManager. This class provides B+ tree-like behavior in allocating subtrees of nodes that are always balanced, with a fixed limit on how many siblings any given node can have. (You provide the limit as an argument in the constructor.)
  I wrote a very short test script (in ECMAScript) to show how the BTreeManager operates, as shown below:

The real lesson here is: If your content is hierarchical, by all means, capitalize on that fact! Don’t try to treat your content as a Big Flat List, especially if you’ll be doing a lot of updates. (If you’re doing mostly reads and few writes, on the other hand, it doesn’t much matter.) Introducing a bit of hierarchy to your content organization scheme will go a long way toward promoting fast update performance.