Ship & Grow 500k+ User Side Projects [Part 3] - Crafting The MVP

You should launch the initial version of your side project as fast as possible. So what exactly should it have? This lesson teaches you:

- The only thing your side project MVP (minimum viable product) needs to have
- How a piece of software can still deliver value despite having incredibly few features (or even just 1 feature)
- What a good MVP looks like, explained with an in-depth example
- A common mistake engineers make when it comes to shipping their MVP, explained with an in-depth example

If you're curious to learn why building a good auth flow is 5x harder than engineers think: <https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/case-study-signup-form-edge-cases/>

Part 3 [RBP] Clean Up Your Effects

This lesson emphasizes the crucial practice of cleaning up side effects in React components to prevent unexpected behavior and optimize performance.

- **Understanding useEffect Cleanup:** Learn how to use the cleanup function returned by `useEffect` to properly handle resources like network connections, event listeners, and subscriptions.
- **Avoiding Memory Leaks and Unexpected Behavior:** Discover how neglecting cleanup can lead to memory leaks, multiple event triggers, and other unintended consequences, especially when components mount and unmount frequently.
- **Debugging with Strict Mode:** Explore how React's Strict Mode helps identify potential issues by intentionally double-invoking effects in development, making it easier to spot missing cleanup logic.

Links:

- Florian’s Next.js with Express and TypeScript Course: <https://codinginflow.com/nextjs>
- Florian’s free web development playlist on YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrnPJCHvNZuDG6BWjUFVxeWyYlve_SVJO>
- Code link: <https://github.com/codinginflow/react-best-practices/blob/effect-cleanup/src/app/page.tsx>

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 10] - Sophie Novati: The Founder Journey

This video kicks off a section of 4 videos in which you’ll hear from different accomplished engineers on their career paths and what drew them to that route.

Starting us off, [Sophie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophienovati/) (course author!) provides more context into how she became a founder, the typical founder path, and why she has a deep admiration for the work she does.

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 8] - What Stage Of Company?

In this video, we walk through common traits among different company sizes and also how they differ vastly. We also talk through a key mistake many engineers make when thinking about company size and stage.

Depending on how you like to work, the idea of which company size you want to shoot for should become more clear.

This video covers three main company types:

- Start-up
- Growth stage
- Large company

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 7] - What's Your Specialization?

In this video, we walk through three (of many) specializations you can pursue, what type of work you may be working on in each, and who its a good fit for based on the work you like to do.

These are just three of many; each of these buckets are massive and cover a lot (while also having distinct sub-categories in each):

- Frontend/mobile
- Backend
- Generalist

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 3] - What Drives You?

In this video, we explore the major areas of motivation for individuals in their career, and give you an opportunity to reflect on which resonates most with you.

Try to lean one way or the other on your worksheet vs. selecting a rating right in the middle!

We cover being driven by:

- Mission
- Technical Work
- Team

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 19] - Work-Life Balance

We work to live, not live to work. Unfortunately, it can be very tricky living that reality, especially in the post-layoffs age of 2023 and onward. This lesson teaches you:

- Why your work-life balance isn't purely dictated by the company you work for
- Which factors you can adjust to facilitate work-life balance
- A healthy way to prevent yourself from sabotaging your own work-life balance

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 17] - Promotion

Of course, you can switch jobs to progress your career, [but you will eventually hit a wall](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/you-cant-job-hop-to-success/). At the end of the day, you need to get promoted to have a meaningful long-term, professional trajectory. This lesson teaches you:

- Why working harder isn't enough to get you promoted
- The key to understanding how promotion works, particularly at top companies like FAANG
- How you need to evolve your behavior to reach senior levels and beyond

To dive deeper into getting promoted faster as an engineer, take our course here: [Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)

15 SWE Years In 1.5 Hours [Part 15] - Onboarding

You have started a fancy new job at a company you really like. How do you hit the ground running and impress people fast? This lesson teaches you:

- Why being new is actually a superpower, not a weakness like many engineers think
- Why you need to be aggressive and extremely deliberate when onboarding, especially at the very beginning
- What you can do to *add value* while onboarding instead of merely absorbing value

To dive deeper into onboarding, take our course here: [The Complete Onboarding Guide For Software Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/the-complete-onboarding-guide-for-software-engineers-succeeding-when-youre-new/)

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 13] - Showcase Your Work

**In this section, we discussed the importance of effectively communicating our work and aspirations.**

To maximize our impact, we should:

- **Showcase our work:** Highlight our accomplishments and contributions, tailoring our communication to different audiences.
- **Communicate our desires:** Clearly express our goals and aspirations to our managers and colleagues.
- **Engage in regular check-ins:** Schedule regular meetings with our manager to discuss our progress, challenges, and future plans.
- **Optimize synchronous time:** Make the most of our meetings by focusing on key topics and decision-making.
- **Develop strong storytelling skills:** Use storytelling techniques to make our work more engaging and memorable.

By effectively communicating our work and desires, we can increase our visibility, influence, and career opportunities.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 4] - Learning Objectives

**In this course, we aim to empower you to achieve your career goals by focusing on three key objectives:**

- **Mindset Shift:** We'll help you shift your perspective and adopt a growth mindset, believing in your ability to achieve your desired outcomes.
- **Tactical Strategies:** You'll learn practical strategies and tactics to effectively navigate your career and achieve your goals.
- **Discretionary Application:** We'll guide you on how to apply these strategies judiciously, recognizing the right moments to leverage them for maximum impact.

By focusing on these areas, we'll equip you with the tools and knowledge to succeed in your career.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

Get The Rating You Deserve [Part 3] - About Yogi

**In this section, we learned about the instructor's qualifications and experiences that make them credible to teach about creating value and receiving rewards.**

Yogi has:

- **Academic Background:** A Ph.D. in theoretical computer science and experience in teaching.
- **Industry Experience:** Worked at Facebook for several years, gaining insights into large-scale systems and organizational dynamics.
- **Personal Experience:** Overcame challenges and learned valuable lessons about career progression and negotiation.
- **Coaching Experience:** Helped numerous individuals and organizations improve their performance and achieve their goals.

By sharing their knowledge and experiences, the instructor aims to help learners develop the skills and mindset needed to create value and receive the rewards they deserve.

If you want to get personalized support from Yogi, you can reach out to him at [coaching@yogisharma.com](mailto:coaching@yogisharma.com) or schedule an introductory call to dive into your situation at <https://tinyurl.com/meetyogi>.

DSA Crash Course [Part 72] - Sum Possible Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *sum_possible* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/sum-possible?language=py>

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/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

DSA Crash Course [Part 51] - Graph Intro Lecture

In this lecture, Alvin explains the basic structure of a graph.

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/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 30] - Get Node Value Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *get_node_value*, that takes in the head of a linked list and an index. The function should return the value of the linked list at the specified index.
>
> If there is no node at the given index, then return *None*.

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
get_node_value(a, 2) # 'c'
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
get_node_value(a, 3) # 'd'
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
get_node_value(a, 7) # None
```

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/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 28] - Linked List Find Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *linked_list_find*, that takes in the head of a linked list and a target value. The function should return a boolean indicating whether or not the linked list contains the target.

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
linked_list_find(a, "c") # True
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
linked_list_find(a, "d") # True
```

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d
linked_list_find(a, "q") # False
```

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/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 11] - Most Frequent Char Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *most_frequent_char* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/most-frequent-char?language=py>

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/>

How to Crack System Design Interviews - Part 7: System Design Scorecard

This video explains how candidates are evaluated and scored in system design interviews at large tech companies. We learn about the scorecard used to assess performance across five key parameters:

- **Problem Scope:** This includes listing and clarifying product requirements, discussing user interactions and expectations, and considering system scale.

- **Technical Design:** This involves making appropriate design choices, leveraging design patterns, and demonstrating knowledge of relevant technologies.

- **Scalability:** This encompasses designing a system that can handle increasing amounts of data and traffic.

- **Reliability:** This involves ensuring the system is fault-tolerant and can handle failures gracefully.

- **Communication:** This includes effectively conveying ideas, actively listening to the interviewer, and incorporating feedback.

Each parameter is scored from 0 to 5, with a total score ranging from 0 to 25. A higher score indicates a stronger candidate, and the acceptable score range varies depending on the target seniority level.

[Gaurav Sen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gkcs/) has conducted 1000s of system design interviews while working at Uber and building his [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@gkcs) to 500K+ subscribers. His platform [InterviewReady](https://interviewready.io/?_aff=JOINTARO) combines video explainers, live Zoom classes, and an automated System Design Judge.

How to Crack System Design Interviews - Part 6: Mock Interview

This video demonstrates a system design interview for analyzing Snapchat filter usage. We are tasked with designing a system to track and analyze filter usage data for executives and product managers. Here's what we do:

- **Gather requirements:** We clarify the scope of the system, including the number of filters, their dynamic nature, and the desired metrics (daily, weekly, monthly usage, and potentially hourly breakdowns).

- **Design the system:** We propose a write-heavy system with separate read and write paths to optimize performance. The write path handles incoming events from users, while the read path aggregates and transforms data for querying.

- **Consider scalability:** We discuss sharding and using a write-optimized database like Cassandra to handle the high volume of incoming events.

- **Address data aggregation:** We explore using Apache Spark to process and aggregate data based on time and user demographics, storing the results in a database like DynamoDB.

- **Differentiate query types:** We propose separate APIs for common, pre-aggregated queries and custom queries, acknowledging the potential latency differences between the two.

[Gaurav Sen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gkcs/) has conducted 1000s of system design interviews while working at Uber and building his [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@gkcs) to 500K+ subscribers. His platform [InterviewReady](https://interviewready.io/?_aff=JOINTARO) combines video explainers, live Zoom classes, and an automated System Design Judge.

Master The DSA Interview [Part 21] - Programming Language Selection

There are a ton of programming languages you can use for a data structures and algorithms interview. This lesson teaches you:

- A basic flowchart to follow to determine which programming language you should use in data structures and algorithms interviews
- Why it's often not worth it to pick up an entirely new but "optimal" programming language for data structures and algorithms interviews
- How overly verbose languages can ruin your chances, explained with an in-depth example

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.