Fabio Cicerchia - Issue #138
👋 Hi, this is Fabio with the biweekly issue of the DevPath Newsletter.
Each issue delivers curated content for engineers and leaders in tech,
ideal for busy people as it gives an extract of the latest news and trends.
Architecture
The Pyramid of Alerting
Reading time: 8 mins
We all came across it before. Your company is processing thousands of data points. All goes well on most days, but today, the pipelines are saying "not today". You start digging and find out that the issue is due to a single invalid or malformed message. You check the message for issues, identify the breaking issue (it's a new date format, who would have guessed) and implement a fail-safe for this specific issue.
Career
16 System Design Concepts I Wish I Knew Before the Interview.
Reading time: 13 mins
To excel in system design, one of the most crucial aspects is to develop a deep understanding of fundamental system design concepts such as Load Balancing, Caching, Partitioning, Replication, Databases, and Proxies.
Through my own experiences, I’ve identified 16 key concepts that can make a significant difference in your ability to tackle system design problems. These concepts range from understanding the intricacies of API gateway and mastering load-balancing techniques to grasping the importance of CDNs and appreciating the role of caching in modern distributed systems. By the end of this blog, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of these essential ideas and the confidence to apply them in your next interview.
Health
Emotions At Work: How To Manage Them Effectively
Reading time: 8 mins
Here I share my advice to help you harness your emotions and listen to what they're telling you. I also provide advice for managers to help steer their team members' emotional currents.
Methodologies
The Art Of Looking Back: A Critical Reflection For Individual Contributors
Reading time: 12 mins
Discover the importance of critical reflective practice and challenge some beliefs about reflection and its role in our work and growth. Kristian Mikhel suggests a critical reflective routine for individual contributors and gives some practical recommendations that will make reflection meaningful and actionable.
Productivity
Why an Engineering Manager Should Not Review Code
Reading time: 8 mins
When discussing team organization, I am often asked: “Why don’t you have the tech lead manage the team?” My response is to hiss like a vampire exposed to holy water. When the follow-up question is: “Given you want managers on your teams, can the manager still perform code reviews?” I burst into flames.
Resources
9 One-on-one meeting templates
Reading time: 11 mins
One-on-one meetings are the most important opportunities for managers to give and get feedback, build trust and discuss growth and development with their direct reports. While every team member is different (and your one-on-ones should be tailored to each person!) here are 9 different types of one-on-one meeting templates to jump-start your next conversation.
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Have a great week 😉