What is the purpose of service discovery in microservices, and how is it implemented?

Short answer: Purpose of Service Discovery: In a microservices architecture, service discovery allows services to dynamically locate each other without hardcoding IP addresses or service locations. It enables communication between services regardless of their dynamic nature (services might come up or go down or change IPs). Implementation:

Real-world example (ShopNest)

ShopNest splits Catalog, Cart, Order, and Payment into services so teams can deploy catalog changes without redeploying payments.

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.