Principal Staff Software Engineer, Systems Infrastructure

LinkedIn

Let's dive into C++ and networking concepts, followed by a concurrency coding challenge. Part 1: C++ and Networking Fundamentals Explain the difference between TCP and UDP. Provide examples of applications that would be best suited for each protocol. For instance, why is TCP preferred for web browsing, while UDP is often used for online gaming? Describe the OSI model. What is the purpose of each layer, and how does data travel from the application layer on one machine to the application layer on another? What are sockets? Explain how they are used to establish network connections in C++. Provide a simple code example demonstrating how to create a socket and listen for incoming connections. Explain the concept of network address translation (NAT). How does NAT allow multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address? Discuss different types of network topologies. What are the advantages and disadvantages of star, bus, ring, and mesh topologies? Part 2: Concurrency Coding Challenge Implement a thread-safe queue in C++. The queue should support the following operations: enqueue(item): Adds an item to the back of the queue. dequeue(): Removes and returns the item at the front of the queue. If the queue is empty, it should block until an item becomes available. size(): Returns the number of items in the queue. Your implementation should be robust and handle concurrent access from multiple threads without data corruption or race conditions. Explain the synchronization primitives you have used (e.g., mutexes, condition variables) and why you chose them. Provide a basic example demonstrating how multiple threads can enqueue and dequeue items from your thread-safe queue concurrently.

LinkedIn

Let's design the LinkedIn feed. Consider the user experience, key features, scalability, and personalization aspects. For instance, how would you prioritize content from connections versus suggested content? How would you handle different content types like text, images, videos, and articles? How do you design a system to ensure that the feed remains responsive even with millions of active users? How would you personalize the feed to show users content they are most likely interested in, and what data would you use to achieve this personalization? Finally, how would you prevent the spread of misinformation or harmful content within the feed?

LinkedIn

Let's walk through a past project you've worked on. I'm interested in understanding your approach, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them. To start, please describe a project where you had significant ownership and responsibility. Elaborate on the project's goals, your specific role, and the technologies you utilized. For example, perhaps you led the development of a new feature for a mobile application using React Native, or you were responsible for optimizing a database query that was causing performance bottlenecks. As you describe the project, please highlight the key decisions you made and the rationale behind them. I'd also like to hear about any unexpected obstacles you encountered and the steps you took to address them. This could include technical challenges, team coordination issues, or changes in project requirements. For instance, how did you handle a situation where a critical dependency was deprecated, or when a team member was unable to complete their assigned tasks? Finally, I'm keen to learn about the outcomes of the project and how you measured its success. What were the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you tracked, and what were the results? Did you achieve the project's goals, and what lessons did you learn from the experience? Please provide specific examples and quantify the impact of your contributions whenever possible. This walkthrough will help me understand your problem-solving skills, technical expertise, and ability to work effectively in a team environment.