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[Masterclass] How To Become A Debugging Master And Fix Issues Faster

There will always be bugs, and this only becomes more and more true as your product gets bigger. In this video, we go deep into the often underrated software engineer skill of debugging.

Here are the core points:
- **Bugs are a source of growth** - So many engineers see having to fix issues as merely frustration, an obstacle getting in the way of their feature work. This is a toxic mentality to have that holds back your growth. Feature work isn't the only way to move a product forward, and at the end of the day, your team has to come together to uphold the integrity of its systems. Being a champion in that process is a powerful way to get to senior+ levels.
- **Do your research** - When you get a bug, don't just dive in and start mucking around in the code. Figure out the exact repro steps and go through the flow multiple times to really get it. Detail the blast radius by understanding attributes like when the issue popped up, how many users it affected, and what versions of your software experience the problem. Spend at least 15-30 minutes expanding the context behind the bug.
- **Understand the end-to-end flow** - Every outcome in software is a series of steps: When there's a legitimate bug, it simply means that one (maybe several) of those steps are now broken. Before you start seriously debugging, build up this mental model of the overall ecosystem behind the bug - Ask your teammates if you need help with this. This mental model will serve as the foundation of your debug process.
- **Maintain a debug diary** - Document every step of your journey as you're debugging. This will prevent you from trying the same hypothesis twice and makes it much easier for you to hand off the bug if necessary. This context will allow the new person to easily "download" everything you did and pick up where you left off. This writing will also help you a lot come performance review time when you want to claim credit for the fix.
- **Retrospect** - An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. After every bug resolution, do some amount of thinking around how you can prevent similar issues from cropping up in the future. This is especially important with massive bugs that inflicted a lot of damage. In those scenarios, write-up a post-mortem and discuss it with your team.

Related resources:
- [[Case Study] Solving A Multi-Million $$ Instagram Bug](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/WYk4J05iBqOuPtD0CYKX/case-study-solving-a-multi-million-dollardollar-instagram-bug/)
- ["How can I root cause bugs faster?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/PSv7aYI70VwaDsoRgMyW/how-can-i-root-cause-bugs-faster/)
- ["I'm trying to fix a P1 bug, but some relevant code is owned by another team. Unsure about ownership and how to proceed."](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ZRneLgwmrM2JLCrGn5Rz/im-trying-to-fix-a-p1-bug-but-some-relevant-code-is-owned-by-another-team-unsure-about-ownership-and-how-to-proceed/)

If you want to become a better coder in general, check out our masterclass here: [[Masterclass] How To Write Better Code Faster As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/iYpRj8XfyzCSaTYnce3y/masterclass-how-to-write-better-code-faster-as-a-software-engineer/)

An Autistic Journey To Google Staff Engineer [L6] From Software Analyst - By Lee McKeeman

[Lee McKeeman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmckeeman/) is an autistic software engineer with quite an incredible journey: Across a whopping ~20 years of experience, Lee has worked at Amazon (where he was an engineering manager and bar raiser), Meta, and now Google.

Lee's career story is super long (watch the video to get the full picture), so instead, we're sharing some of the great learnings from Lee here:
- **School doesn't actually teach you software** - University is generally rooted in theory and overly abstract exercises, leaving you with a very basic raw coding foundation. While that certainly has value, it's not enough to make you capable of doing actual software engineering, especially in a team environment.
- **Debugging is a critical skill** - Lee started off as a software analyst, which was a role that was much more focused on diving deep and fixing issues as opposed to churning out new features. The experience Lee got here was extremely valuable and continued paying dividends across his career, even after he transitioned to SWE.
- **Help others and keep an open mind** - Everyone works in different ways and will be comfortable/uncomfortable in situations that don't match that of others. This includes the neurodivergent population like autistic people, those with ADHD, and more. Be a true teammate by being understanding and accepting of these differences. Assume good intent, and if you aren't sure how you can best support a teammate, just ask them!

To learn more from Lee, you should 100% connect with him on LinkedIn where he writes some of the best posts (and comments) on the entire platform: [Lee's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmckeeman/)

Here's some of the incredible wisdom Lee has shared on Taro:
- ["What does it mean to not require handholding anymore?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/5vEWajcZlSi7nlohTGtJ/what-does-it-mean-to-not-require-handholding-anymore/)
- ["How to Balance Responsibilities: Prioritizing Personal Work vs. 'Glue Work' in a New Team Environment."](https://www.jointaro.com/question/9NL4LP40xHy5sgGMvsmB/how-to-balance-responsibilities-prioritizing-personal-work-vs-glue-work-in-a-new-team-environment/)
- ["Can someone elaborate on "always treating feedback as a gift"?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/4DoEnMIq2ISadfAJuwp9/can-someone-elaborate-on-always-treating-feedback-as-a-gift/)
- ["What do career levels structure in big tech company look like? What are the responsibilities for each level?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/qV5oikdcgs4GWmGeousX/what-do-career-levels-structure-in-big-tech-company-look-like-what-are-the-responsibilities-for-each-level/)

How One Of FAANG's Biggest Upsides Becomes A Terrible Downside - Peer Pressure

A big reason engineers go to FAANG is to learn from the brilliant talent there. However, this benefit is very much a double-edged sword.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Big Tech is very competitive** - You will be compared to your peers, many of whom will be better and more productive than you are. Most Big Tech companies make this competition explicit by having stack ranking where the bottom 5-15% of engineers are fired or PIPed every performance cycle. This means that if you're not superior to enough of your peers, your job is in danger.
- There are many side effects to this environment:
  - **Imposter syndrome** - Imposter syndrome is rampant at Big Tech where everyone is so insanely smart and hard-working.
  - **Anxiety and fear** - Being a low performer at Big Tech sucks and is almost always extremely stressful. A lot of engineers here spend a ton of time worrying about being at the bottom.
  - **Poor work-life balance** - You will be pushed by your peers to excel. Many of them will also be overachievers who work late, pushing you to do the same.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] Should You Work At FAANG? - What Big Tech Is Like For Software Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/JnEnRphdi5TaPZl1Zrl8/masterclass-should-you-work-at-faang-what-big-tech-is-like-for-software-engineers/) - The full video where this clip was taken from
- ["How do you deal with zero-sum situations where one's success comes at the expense of another?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/wDZ2LC0AzujhbOOBs43m/how-do-you-deal-with-zero-sum-situations-where-ones-success-comes-at-the-expense-of-another/)
- ["How do you push back against a PIP when it doesn't feel fully justified?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/4fLz0VmshEouTzQl2Iuc/how-do-you-push-back-against-a-pip-when-it-doesnt-feel-fully-justified/)

**If you join this event, you are expected to participate.**

Group Talks are a special type of Taro event that fully leverage the power of community. Here's how they work:
- Everyone in the call splits up into small groups of 3-4 people
- Within each group, every person takes turns talking about the session topic and answering a list of questions (check the slide deck below)
- Others in the group listen and provide advice and feedback for the active speaker
- Participants are encouraged to network with each other (share LinkedIn and Taro Premium Slack handle) and meet up again for future discussions
- Due to the intimate nature of these sessions, *nothing will be recorded*

Here's the deck to faciliate the discussion: [[Slides] Getting Job Opportunities Discussion](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FpolCm8KejlReaRkvXI0hrDmOSVE8WpOToonT2gmN_8/edit?usp=sharing)

Before coming to this session, please spend at least ~30 minutes going through the following resources about effectively getting job opportunities:
- [[Masterclass] How To Write A Stellar Tech Resume That Gets You More Job Opportunities](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/OnQV2V3J8DYVBBuGbZx6/masterclass-how-to-write-a-stellar-tech-resume-that-gets-you-more-job-opportunities/)
- [Creating A Portfolio That Makes Recruiters Come To You](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/wuiq8vI7ablCd09zkz0x/creating-a-portfolio-that-makes-recruiters-come-to-you/)
- ["How to get interview calls?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/MOCBUYFhyn7Yv5ZF7qBU/how-to-get-interview-calls/)
- ["How do I balance my time between studying DSA and fleshing out my portfolio?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/fhV2SCn56aYF4gfPVLmV/how-do-i-balance-my-time-between-studying-dsa-and-fleshing-out-my-portfolio/)
- ["How to get an opportunity to interview at big tech?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/6M3YZvJa22DsLYh8N1Wu/how-to-get-an-opportunity-to-interview-at-big-tech/)
- ["How possible is it to spot red flags about toxic culture during the interview?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/1JwmhC3Nh9Ku0fkDL1bq/how-possible-is-it-to-spot-red-flags-about-toxic-culture-during-the-interview/)

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