DSA Crash Course [Part 78] - Max Path Sum Walkthrough

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

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/max-path-sum?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 85] - Array Stepper Approach

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

> Write a function, *array_stepper*, that takes in a list of numbers as an argument. You start at the first position of the list. The function should return a boolean indicating whether or not it is possible to reach the last position of the list. When situated at some position of the list, you may take a maximum number of steps based on the number at that position.
>
> For example, given:
>
> - idx =  0  1  2  3  4  5
> - numbers = \[2, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1\]
>
> The answer is True.
>
> We start at idx 0, we could take 1 step or 2 steps forward.
>
> The correct choice is to take 1 step to idx 1.
>
> Then take 4 steps forward to the end at idx 5.

```
array_stepper([2, 4, 2, 0, 0, 1]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([2, 3, 2, 0, 0, 1]) # -> False
```

```
array_stepper([3, 1, 3, 1, 0, 1]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([4, 1, 5, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4]) # -> True
```

```
array_stepper([4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 4]) # -> 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/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

How Rigid Should You Be With Your Coding / Content Schedule?

As a 17 year veteran of Amazon, Steve understands seasonality. Q4, the holiday season, is crunch time. There’s a huge pressure on Amazon employees to keep up with demand, and engineers will routinely spend long hours to ensure stability and quality.

The key to doing sustained creative work is to lean in and lean out of periods of intense work, at the right times. Amazon employees know that Q4 will end, and therefore, the crunchtime will end within a few months.

Similarly, for content creation or writing code, **it’s important to segment your schedule into chunks where you can create a deadline or “crunch time”.**

Another perspective is to think about quantity vs quality. For your side projects or content creation endeavors, it’s worth being rigid for a bit (“a commit everyday” or “a video every week”), but it’s also worth changing the routine after some time.

Burnout happens when people don’t see an end in sight from a stressful period. 

- [Learn about burnout](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/xsbM1ctL9HYa6d7E9ejh/the-silent-killer-of-too-many-software-engineer-careers-burnout/)
- [Avoid burnout](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CfPvvtIW02MxVwR1fnP4/how-can-i-avoid-burning-myself-out/)
- [3 Mistakes Engineers To Avoid (from an Eng Director)](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/lhj2batcsdMiEOSKOGLo/3-mistakes-too-many-software-engineers-make-from-a-director-at-airbnb/)

Connect with Steve: 
- [Taro](https://www.jointaro.com/profile/aZJL3ucq9dQnscO09F4JDRkgPo72/)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@ALifeEngineered)

[Timeless Career Advice] Compounding Engineers vs Detractors

Asking Great Questions [Part 13] - Please Don't Do This: Leading Hello

A lot of what we're taught growing up doesn't translate very well into the software engineering world, and how we greet people is one of those things. This lesson teaches you:

- Why a standard solitary "Hello" or "Hi" is a terrible way to get help digitally
- What being polite actually means in the engineering world
- What you should do instead of leading hello

If you want to join the cause of "No Hello": [https://nohello.net/](https://nohello.net/en/)

5 Offers w/ FAANG Companies As A New Grad: Details + Lessons

In 2014, Rahul graduated from Stanford with a BS and MS in Computer Science. He received new grad Software Engineer offers from 5 companies: 
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Microsoft
4. Google
5. Square

This video outlines the exact details of the offers, and models out the increase (or decrease) in value of those offers 8 years later, in 2022. The total compensation of the offers range from $174K/year to $262K/year, and those numbers go a lot higher if you factor in stock appreciation.

If you want to better understand how compensation works in top tech companies, first watch [this video](https://link.jointaro.com/819tdsqwJj4VnaEC6).

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>

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 10] - Keep The Stakes Low

Every piece of software inevitably breaks. This is incredibly important to remember when it comes to side projects. This lesson teaches you:

- Why side projects are especially vulnerable to production issues
- Why you want the stakes for your side project to be low
- What it means to have high stakes vs. low stakes with a product, explained with a concrete example

Asking Great Questions [Part 26] - Go Deeper: Follow Through

Asking great questions is a skill that takes months, if not years, to develop. So let's take the knowledge from this course and apply it! You get better by doing, not just consuming.

Take the related courses:

- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

[Timeless Career Advice] How Software Engineers Create Value

Mid-Level Engineer (L4) Describes Most Important Skill - Dipika Tiwari

Dipika is a mid-level engineer at Qualcomm.

- **Most important skill**: efficient log analysis. Being able to quickly make sense of the bug report and provide actionable next steps is critical for productivity and trust. 
- **Advice**: keep notes as you ramp up, since that information will likely be useful later on.

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/)

Helpful links:
- [How Neetcode Got Promoted From L3 to L4 (Mid-Level) Engineer At Google - Tips + Insights](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/mP1jyI09NsCHDsi5yTEX/how-neetcode-got-promoted-from-l3-to-l4-mid-level-engineer-at-google-tips-insights/)
- Taro's top 10 to get promoted from [entry-level to mid-level engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/iBKHYpkjd0BRWWLKQG2j/)
- Taro's top 10 to get promoted from [mid-level to senior engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/AUMiBTvYUv0gcOzuu26V/)
- [Dipika on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dipika-tiwari/)

Ace The ML System Design Interview [Part 5] - Modeling

Modeling plays a critical role in machine learning system design, with classification and regression being the most frequently encountered problem types in interviews. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Understand various evaluation metrics, such as precision, recall, F1 score, NDCG, and loss metrics like cross-entropy and focal loss, and know when to apply each
- Be prepared to discuss trade-offs between metrics, particularly precision and recall, and avoid over-optimizing for a single metric
- Recognize the significance of loss metrics, memorizing the equations for cross-entropy and focal loss, and understanding their applications in balanced and imbalanced datasets
- Be ready to discuss model selection, including architecture choices like two-tower models or matrix factorization, and anticipate follow-up questions on optimization techniques and troubleshooting issues like overfitting and vanishing gradients
- Consider a baseline model for comparison if no current system exists, and if there is an existing system, use it as a reference point

If you like what Ilya has to say, subscribe to his YouTube for more high-quality ML/AI career guidance: [MLEpath - YouTube](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-youtube-mlepath)

If you want hands-on support from Ilya to crack the FAANG ML interview, join his coaching program: [MLEpath - Coaching Program](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-march-25)

[Become A Go-To Person 18/18] More Resources

- A course by [Jordan Cutler](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancutler1/), Senior Software Engineer at Pinterest and Author of the [High Growth Engineer Newsletter](https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/)
- Discover more from Jordan across [videos, articles, and livestreams here](https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/p/resources-and-deals?open=false#%C2%A7find-me-in-other-media).
- Get a discount on Jordan's newsletter here: <https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/taro>

Engineering Management Made Easy: The ABCs for First-Time Managers

How to avoid burnout, enjoy being a manager, and multiply your team’s efforts.

I will share mistakes that I made when I first became an Engineering Manager and what I learned from those, followed by Q & A.

Connect with Umang on LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/umangv/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/umangv/)

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 11] - The Value Of Writing Online

In this lesson, Brian highlights the importance of documenting your coding journey and writing online, not for fame but for personal growth and community building.

This lesson covers:

- Writing online as a way to document your progress, overcome imposter syndrome, and differentiate yourself in a crowded job market
- How being genuine in your writing attracts like-minded people and builds a valuable network
- The long-term benefits of writing consistently, even without immediate engagement, and how it helps organize your thoughts and improve communication skills

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/>

Become An Open Source Master [Part 22] - Good Practices When Making Commits

Pay attention to the naming conventions of commits and pull requests in open source projects. We also need to make sure our commits are atomic, solving one problem at a time. Always provide a clear test plan for our changes.

References:

- [One Diff, One Thesis](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/one-diff-one-thesis/)
- [Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 14] - Networking Without Being Weird

In this lesson, Brian emphasizes the importance of authentic online networking and provides strategies to build genuine connections without being cringy.

This lesson covers:

- Avoiding the common mistake of sending unsolicited requests for jobs or favors and focusing on building relationships instead
- Engaging with others by commenting on their posts and asking genuine questions to foster meaningful interactions
- Curating your feed by following like-minded individuals who share valuable content, ensuring that your online experience is constructive and positive

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/>

Tech Lead Blueprint 8/17 - Delegating The Work

Connect with Lalit on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/lalitkundu/>

Asking Great Questions [Part 9] - Be Appreciative

The people who give the best help often have some degree of altruism. When you learn how to appeal to that altruism, you supercharge your chances of getting great answers quickly on your questions. This lesson teaches you:

- How many engineers view showing appreciation incorrectly, seeing it as a transactional action instead of a proactive action
- When to show appreciation proactively
- What it looks like weaving appreciation into your question, explained with an in-depth example
- A lazy way of showing "appreciation" that you should definitely avoid by spending an extra 10 seconds

Gilad’s Take On Management

In this video, we explore the core responsibility of managers and define what great management truly entails. The speaker provides a clear, actionable definition of management and unpacks each part of it to guide us toward becoming more impactful leaders.

- We learn that **the essence of management is to create a positive and sustainable change in the organization’s performance**, a definition we are encouraged to internalize and apply.
- We embrace the idea that management is a **creative, proactive discipline**, not just a reactive one—our actions should be intentional and forward-looking.
- We are reminded that our impact must be **positive** and **lasting**, focusing on growing people and systems that perform well even in our absence.
- We are taught to focus on **creating deltas**, meaning our value lies in the improvement we drive, not in maintaining the status quo.
- We expand our view beyond just our teams, recognizing that **great managers influence the broader organization**, constantly looking for opportunities to elevate overall performance.

If you want to learn more from Gilad, he shares free leadership advice daily on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladnaor/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta) and weekly on the[ δeltas newsletter](https://posts.managementdeltas.com/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta)

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.