What is the role of the Saga pattern in microservices transactions?

Short answer: n event or sends a message to the next service. Compensation: If any step in the saga fails, compensating actions (like rolling back previous steps) are executed to maintain consistency. There are two types of sagas:

Real-world example (ShopNest)

After payment succeeds, ShopNest publishes OrderPaid. Inventory and Notification services react independently—no giant distributed transaction.

Say this in the interview

1. Define — one clear sentence (the short answer above).
2. Example — relate it to a project like ShopNest or your real work.
3. Trade-off — when you would not use it.