Figuring Out What Matters In A Codebase

In a large codebase, the code will follow the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule): 20% of the components account for 80% of the impact. So your goal as the engineer is to spend most of your time on the 20% of code that matters to the business and matters to your coworkers.

How do you figure out where that 20% comes from?

- Talk to people
- Use blames to find hotspots
- Look for patterns in code reviews
- Look at past alerts and what triggered them

Case Study: Setting Up Your Environment

One of the first tasks for an engineer in a new company is to setup their environment. 

- Your goal is **not** to setup your environment

- Your goal is to **do something that the environment setup enables**, e.g. make a copy or color change

Abstraction is essential when you’re working in a large codebase. Don't try to understand everything you come across: there will surely be a guide or script that you'll blindly follow, and that's ok. Keep your focus on completing the setup so you can make progress.

If you get blocked (*you probably will...*), forecast ahead what's coming and check if there's something else you can do in parallel.

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 8] - Interviewing While Employed

Finding a job as a software engineer is, in and of itself, practically a full-time job. But should you quit to actually treat it like an entire job? This video teaches you:

- Why currently being employed is usually the best time to find a new job
- The counterintuitive way that having a job boosts your interview performance when searching for another job
- How to find the time to do interview preparation when you're juggling a current job, including emergency levers
- The framework you should apply to determine if you should quit your current job for the job search grind

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 21] - Non-Descriptive Names

Naming: It's important for your children but quite important for your code as well. When it comes to your variables, methods, and classes, you should put in the effort to name them properly. This lesson will teach you:

- Why descriptive, high-effort names can add up to add a huge amount of quality to a codebase
- How to identify a poor name in code and the common patterns leading to it
- How much time you should spend on each type of name and how to prioritize accordingly, particularly in code review feedback
- The mentality to convert bad names to good names in code with an in-depth example walking through a classic utility method

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 14] - How To Handle Migrations

There is term called "promotion-driven development" where software engineers propose big refactors and migrations to look good but don't fully follow through. This is especially common in Big Tech. This lesson will teach you:

- How to do code migrations properly
- How to judge the quality of a codebase based off of its consistency and how "good, modern code" can actually be harmful to the health of the codebase overall
- The mental and operating model behind how new engineers code, which is especially important if you're a tech lead (never forget this!)

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 13] - Lay Out The Plan

It's tempting as a software engineer to leap straight into the code and start being productive. However, this can often cost you time in the long-term, especially with more technically complex tasks. This lesson will teach you:

- Why it's important to create a plan to increase your code quality, move faster, and build up relationships with your teammates
- What goes into a rock-solid coding plan (hopefully you were paying attention during the prior parts of the course!)
- Exactly what a good technical plan looks like with a concrete, real-life example from Taro

Senior Staff Engineer at Cruise Shares The Most Important Skill - Rama Karve

[Rama Karve](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramakarve/) is a Senior Staff Software Engineer [L7] at the autonomous vehicle company Cruise, working on fleet management.

Previously, Rama spent 9 years at Meta and 9 years at Amazon as a software engineer. At the very senior levels, engineers have an impact in more unique ways, leveraging their strength as a generalist or specialist.

As one of the most senior engineers in the company, Rama says the most important skill at the Senior Staff level is to get disparate teams and systems to work together for the same goal. A further challenge here is to identify which teams or people even need to start working more closely together.

Rama has 2 pieces of advice for other Senior Staff Engineers:

1. **Figure out your superpower.** Understand what you are uniquely good at in the context of what the company is trying to accomplish.
2. **Give yourself time to ramp up.** Your impact is not as simple as writing a bit of code in the first week. The first few months should be dedicated to learning how things work.

Here's the full playlist asking engineers what the most important skill is for their level: [Asking 7 Levels Of Engineers The Most Important Skill](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/J9Io5lDGaYUpI8vGrUyI/)

Related:
- [How do I figure out whether I should stay as an IC engineer or explore management as an EM?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Y6qIop9wpOlCYUL0nGs0/how-do-i-figure-out-whether-i-should-stay-as-an-ic-engineer-or-explore-management-as-an-em/)
- [[Masterclass] What Software Engineers Should Look For In Their Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/oeY7ncZhzJ5NO6dij5e7/masterclass-what-software-engineers-should-look-for-in-their-engineering-manager/)
- [The Journey to Staff Engineer In Big Tech (Panel Discussion)](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/SaYyJGLYvrAy4XGrDhy7/the-journey-to-staff-engineer-in-big-tech-panel-discussion/)
- [David Pan on what makes a great tech lead](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/uHqZZ15SK19MatEvLSO6/what-makes-a-truly-great-tech-lead-a-vp-of-engineerings-perspective/)
- Taro's top 10 to get promoted from [senior to staff engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/YD8LMCSlE71VUGUbNAWM/)

System Design Series: Taro Playlists [Part 8] - Breaking Down The Work And Timeline

You can find the full [system design doc here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15WaM8Ojan82g0m2mtz6kC2Hiyj0Q6VbjfqRmVNDI3qw/edit?usp=sharing) - Feel free to use it as a template for when you are doing a system design at your job!

The tactics are covered in the doc linked above, so this summary will focus on the "meta" context behind this part and additional commentary:

- Something Alex forgot to mention in this video is the "POCs" section, where POC = "Point of Contact".
  - Big projects will usually have a lot of stakeholders, so having this "people map" is very helpful for any project stakeholder to know who to direct their questions to for a certain aspect of the project (which are often about the timeline/milestones).
  - This small, humble section is *especially* relevant at FAANG/Big Tech where the range of responsibility holders is almost always huge for major projects.
- Decomposing work and breaking big projects down into smaller tasks is helpful for so many reasons:
  - It allows you to estimate the project far more accurately by increasing clarity.
  - It creates "swim-lanes" for more junior engineers as they now have smaller, clearer chunks of work as opposed to this giant, hulking ambiguous cloud of a project.
  - It makes it easy to understand project as you can now break clusters of tasks into groups and attach a milestone to each group.
- Don't just decompose the work: Try to sequence it into a logical order as well. For example, if you're building a CRUD feature, you probably want to prioritize the "Create" part as that's what everything stems from.

What To Do If Your Manager Seems Detached

This segment addresses the common experience of feeling disconnected from a manager and provides tactical advice for becoming more visible and driving engagement in that relationship. The message is rooted in realism: most managers are overwhelmed, and visibility must be earned through structured communication.

- **Managers often appear detached—not maliciously, but due to bandwidth**: With many reports and constant demands, a manager may not track every individual’s progress or struggles unless the impact is urgent or visible.
- **Visibility must be self-driven**: It's essential to lower the "activation energy" required for a manager to know what’s going on. Regular updates make it easier for them to stay engaged and supportive.
- **Weekly written updates are powerful**: Creating a consistent cadence of updates helps establish a communication rhythm. These should include:
  - *Top of mind*: What’s currently being prioritized.

  - *Priorities*: Key goals from the current or past week.

  - *Actions*: Clear tasks being worked on, by either the employee or the manager.
- **Proactive documentation helps managers help more effectively**: Preparing and sharing this structure before one-on-ones gives the manager context and allows for more productive, actionable feedback.
- **Taking initiative builds influence**: Instead of expecting a manager to chase progress or identify gaps, the individual contributor can shape the relationship by driving clarity and making collaboration easier.

DSA Interview Step Finale: Analyze Your Solution

You should proactively go over the time requirements, space requirements, and edge cases of your coding solution once you're finished coding.

Related resources:
- [[Taro Top 10] Effective Interview Prep](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/HLBYxJI7D1j8STolrwum/)
- [[Taro Top 10] Finding A Tech Job](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/E6R0wVJ5EyCfVnVrlfno/)

The Amazing Non-Money Benefits Of Working At Big Tech

The Resource You Need For Promotion That Few Understand

Which of the following is the resource needed for promotion that many engineers don't understand or even realize exists, particularly more junior ones?

True or false: When you are onboarding as a software engineer, the one and only thing that matters is your ability to understand the codebase and extend it.

Why is social capital important for senior engineers?

Why Time Is The Most Important Resource In The Tech Industry

Which one of these is a crucial skill working in a top tech company?

True or false: Time is an overpowered, often underappreciated resource.

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 15] - Conclusion

Congratulations on making it to the end of the course! While watching great content like this feels good - It doesn't actually mean anything unless you put the learnings into practice. With that being said, here's some ideas for "homework" for you:

- Start sleeping consistently every day, even on weekends
- If you have a task or project that will take at least 1 week, decompose it into at least 3 different sub-tasks
- Set up a meeting with yourself on a regular basis to reflect on your productivity
- Go through your calendar, audit all the meetings, and kill as many as you can

If you want to learn how Rahul's cofounder Alex made $750,000 per year at Robinhood working \~35 hour weeks, you can go to the next level and take his much deeper and more concrete productivity course here: [Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/maximize-your-productivity-as-a-software-engineer/)

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 13] - The Secret To Growing Fast

Getting better isn't about which AI tool you use or what books you read or even which company you work for. How fast you improve comes down to one fundamental skill that most people struggle with. This lesson teaches you:

- Why feedback is the fuel for rapid engineer growth
- How many engineers respond incorrectly when it comes to getting feedback
- The right mentality to have when it comes to feedback overall
- Why an incorrect piece of feedback can actually be a good thing

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 8] - Finding A Job

Finding a job as a software engineer sucks, especially when it comes to your first one. This lesson teaches you:

- How to differentiate yourself from the massive pool of other applicants
- Why most engineers have the wrong mentality going into interviews and how you should flip it to be much healthier
- How to structure your job search (and why you shouldn't just start off grinding LeetCode into oblivion)

To dive deeper into the full mechanics behind landing any tech job (FAANG, startups, etc), take our course here: [Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)

DSA Crash Course [Part 19] - Recursion Warm Up Lecture

In this lecture, Alvin explains some basic recursive function examples.

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Master The DSA Interview [Part 8] - Clarify The Problem

Don't just start coding when you get a data structures and algorithms problem in an interview. This lesson teaches you:

- The first thing you should do when getting a data structures and algorithm problem, which is critical for setting you up for success
- Why dealing with ambiguity is so important as an engineer
- The overall question categories you should pull from when clarifying a problem
- How exactly to clarify a data structures and algorithms problem, shown with an in-depth example

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 4] - Why Foundation Is Crucial

In this lesson, Brian emphasizes the importance of building a strong technical foundation in order to succeed long-term in the tech industry.

This lesson covers:

- The risks of becoming a "framework developer" without understanding core programming concepts, which can jeopardize career stability
- Brian’s personal experience of having to attend two bootcamps to fill in gaps in foundational knowledge, despite already being in the industry
- The importance of understanding the underlying technologies, not just frameworks, to boost both career growth and confidence

If you need extra help breaking into tech, join Brian's exclusive, cohort-based bootcamp (just 10 students per batch). Use this special link for $800 off: <https://www.parsity.io/taro>

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjenney/>

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 21] - Verify Your Foundation

Work and life are deeply interconnected, despite how much we want this to not be the case. If your personal foundation isn't there, it's hard to get anything done working a mentally-intensive job like software engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- How it's possible to implement literally all the advice from this course and still not be productive
- What to do if you're stuck in a productivity rut that you just can't get out of
- The ingredients behind a healthy personal foundation

Learn more about how to have good work-life balance here: [\[Taro Top 10\] Work-Life Balance](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/JNCZ1vbRF3NwsOQCqblt/)

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.