What are distributed tracing and why is it important in microservices?

Short answer: Distributed tracing allows tracking a single request as it travels through multiple microservices. It provides visibility into how different services interact and where bottlenecks or failures occur. Importance in microservices:

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.