venomnert
Becoming an intermediate elixir developer
Background
I have been a backend elixir developer for about 3 years now. I have been mainly working on simple CRUD applications.
Context
As of last year I have been applying for elixir backend position; however, I have been unsuccessful in landing a job. After having been interviewed, I think I realize what I am missing: making architectural decisions in a complex system.
Its best if I provide a couple of interview questions to showcase what I mean in my above statement:
- When should one use sql vs nosql? What are the pitfalls of each technologies? Are there any performance difference between the two?
- You are tasked with creating a elevators as a service. Each elevator can go up, down or stop. Now how would you design this system using OTP? What are the pitfalls of the decision?
Those were some of the architectural questions I came across. Having a solid understanding of OTP I was able to provide a single high level implementation detail for the #2. But I was stumped when it came to determining the pitfalls of my decision. Furthermore, when pushed to answer similar questions I didn’t know how to answer it.
Question
What should a junior backend elixir developer do in order to gain experience to be able make architectural decisions in a complex system?
- One thought that came to mind was, I should try to implement the system asked in #2 interview question. Even then I am not sure what I should put my focus on in order to gain the experience I need to land a job.
I apologize for the rant but I am stuck in my growth to become an experience backend elixir developer!
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gregvaughn
There’s no easy answer. To gain experience you need to spend time experiencing multiple situations. The experience you gain with side projects that aren’t really “in production” is helpful, but not the same as working for a company that has production systems.
I am encouraged by your elevator example. My first ElixirConf talk about OTP used elevators as the test case. Elixir Conf 2014 - Elixir Elevate by Greg Vaughn - YouTube
JEG2
Some project ideas:
- Build the Game of Life without using any processes. Try to minimize the cells processed in each new generation.
- Build any moderate sized project while pairing 100% of the time. Trade driving so it’s 50/50.
- Build a chat application using only what ships with Elixir (and Erlang). The app should be able to “Host” or “Join” an IP that’s currently hosting. Make sure I can receive messages while I’m typing one.
xlphs
Making architectural decisions is just the how. I always start with why. Why do you have this particular problem that you are tasked to solve?
Why does the business want a new elevator service? Are the current solutions too slow? Is the problem actually optimizing elevator dispatch?
Similarly, understand the business can help choose between sql and nosql. Nosql or document databases are very flexible and works great for nested relations. Is that what the business data look like?
Also, design docs are necessary evil. You may or may not like them, it’s a tool for communication.
Sorry if all that seem too vague. I guess my point is you want to think like an engineer, so you have to understand requirements as well as the limitations.
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