Data Engineer (L5) - Commerce Product Data Engineering

Netflix

You are given a singly linked list. Write a function to determine if the linked list is a palindrome. Implement this in O(n) time and O(1) space. Example: List: 1 -> 2 -> 2 -> 1 Output: true List: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 Output: true List: 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 Output: false Constraints: The number of nodes in the list is in the range [1, 5 * 10^5]. 0 <= Node.val <= 9 Follow up: Could you do it in O(n) time and O(1) space?

Netflix

Let's discuss architecture and data modeling. Consider you're designing a system for a popular online bookstore. This bookstore needs to manage a vast catalog of books, track customer orders, and provide personalized recommendations. Walk me through your approach to designing the system's architecture and data model, keeping in mind scalability, performance, and maintainability. Be specific by considering these points: Microservices vs. Monolith: Would you opt for a microservices architecture or a monolithic architecture? Explain your reasoning, considering the bookstore's scale and potential future features. Data Storage: What types of databases would you use (e.g., relational, NoSQL)? Justify your choices for different parts of the system (e.g., catalog, orders, user profiles). Data Model: Describe the key entities (e.g., books, authors, customers, orders) and their relationships. Provide a simplified schema for these entities, highlighting essential attributes and data types. How would you handle relationships like a book having multiple authors or a customer placing multiple orders? Scalability: How would you design the system to handle a massive increase in traffic and data volume during peak seasons (e.g., holidays)? Consider aspects like load balancing, caching, and database sharding. Search Functionality: How would you implement the search functionality to allow users to quickly find books based on title, author, ISBN, or keywords? Consider indexing strategies and search algorithms. Recommendation Engine: Briefly outline how you would design a recommendation engine to suggest relevant books to users based on their browsing history, purchase history, and ratings. What data would you need to collect and how would you analyze it? Data Consistency: How would you ensure data consistency across different microservices and databases, especially when dealing with transactions like placing an order or updating inventory levels?

Netflix

Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision with incomplete information. What was the situation? What information was missing? What decision did you make and how did you arrive at it? What was the outcome? What did you learn from the experience? For example, perhaps you had to decide whether to launch a new feature without complete user testing data, or whether to pursue a new market opportunity without a full understanding of the competitive landscape. Maybe you had to make a critical hiring decision without all the information you needed about the candidate's past performance. The key is to show that you can assess risks, weigh potential outcomes, and make sound judgments even when things are uncertain. Be sure to articulate the reasoning that led you to your decision, and reflect on the lessons you learned from the experience. This demonstrates your adaptability, problem-solving abilities, and your capacity for learning and growth.