FrontendHaltNetworking·Intermediate·Conceptual·1 min read
Why is using GET for an operation with side effects problematic?
Short interview answer
GET requests are assumed safe and idempotent by browsers, proxies, and crawlers, so they may be prefetched, cached, or retried automatically — any of which would unexpectedly trigger the side effect multiple times or at the wrong moment.
Key takeaway
Explain the underlying mental model clearly, then support it with a concrete example and its trade-offs.