What is "Configuration" in Software Engineering?
I spoke with a hiring manager about a software engineering opportunity after passing technical interviews. One thing he told me was this split between configuration and hardcore development. When trying to clarify the HM's use of the terminology, I got the impression that the HM defined "configuration" as building on top of an existing platform and "hardcore development" as building things from scratch, which the HM appeared to confirm.
However, I'm still unsure if I presented my clarifying questions correctly. Should I try and probe for more details if the HM feedback is positive, or is my impression accurate enough?
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Discussion
(2 comments)- 1a year agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
I'd like to understand more here -- are you concerned you may get stuck with more of one type of work than another, and you'll be unhappy? Two recs:
- Talk to ICs on the team and ask what problems they're facing. What would they want to change about working on the team?
- Don't worry about this too much! What you work on is going to be fluid, and once you join the company and start building trust + relationships, you'll be able to shape what you work on anyway.
- 0a year agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
To recap:
- "Configuration" = Incremental work
- "Hardcore development" = 0 to 1 work
This seems... reasonable-ish? The "hardcore" one makes more sense to me. I'm iffy on "configuration".
Best way to figure this out is to ask them to provide a sample project for both.
