Jun Ma

🚀 How to Approach a System Design Interview: Amazon Prime Video Example When tackling a system design problem, especially for a complex platform like Amazon Prime Video, it's crucial to approach it strategically. Here's how I break it down: Get clarity on the requirements, both functional and non-functional. Focus on the user flows, define the scale, detail out the components, improve scalability, and wrap up confidently. Pro Tip for Interviews: Don’t rush into drawing diagrams! Ask clarifying questions, understand the problem fully, and then build the system piece by piece. Communicate your thought process clearly, and focus on scalability, reliability, and cost-efficiency. Remember, the trick is to think aloud—explain why you're making certain decisions. The interviewer wants to understand your reasoning as much as the final solution! Good luck to all those preparing for system design interviews! You've got this!💪 Want to master system design interviews and land those $500k+ TPM roles? Make sure you're fully prepared with the Kracd.com interview prep course. Sign up today and transform your career in just 30 days. #SystemDesign #AmazonPrimeVideo #TechInterview #InterviewTips #Scalability #CDN #TechCareers #SoftwareEngineering #Microservices #TechLeadership

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Meet Lucy Zou, a Machine Learning Scientist III at Expedia Group. Lucy shares with WiDS Puget Sound insights from her education and career in data science - here are 3 key takeaways: 🔑 Adaptability and continuous learning are crucial for navigating career transitions in tech. 🔑 Building a diverse network and seeking mentorship are invaluable for career development. 🔑 Embrace challenges, take calculated risks, and seize growth opportunities to thrive in the dynamic tech industry https://bit.ly/3ydfRVz

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🌟 Reflecting on a Memorable Experience 🌟 A while back, I had the unique opportunity to provide crucial advice to the CTO at a mid-sized software development company. They were seeking feedback on fostering collaboration between sub-businesses and sharing best practices across the organization. The differing leadership styles among their direct reports had been a barrier, and I knew addressing this issue would require careful navigation. Initially, I suggested a casual lunch meeting at a favorite Italian restaurant. However, the executive declined due to a garlic allergy and preferred to meet in their office. I was aware of the rumors about the executive's difficult demeanor and previous conflicts, including a significant issue with an employee displaying a crucifix in their cubicle. These factors added to my apprehension. During our meeting, I took a collaborative approach to present the issue. Instead of pointing fingers or placing blame, I highlighted the importance of aligning leadership styles to drive effective collaboration. I shared examples of successful cross-organizational initiatives from other companies, emphasizing how consistent leadership could foster a more cohesive and innovative environment. By focusing on shared goals and the potential benefits of unified leadership, I aimed to build consensus and encourage a collective effort towards improvement. The CTO listened intently and engaged in the discussion, asking insightful questions and offering their perspective. Our conversation gradually shifted from identifying the problem to brainstorming actionable solutions. This approach not only eased the tension but also paved the way for a productive dialogue on how to implement best practices across the organization. During our conversation, I noticed a blood donation poster prominently displayed in the CTO's office. Suddenly, everything clicked - the CTO was a Dracula. Understanding the gravity of the situation, I acted decisively, snapping a leg off of the wooden chair I had been seated on, and using a stapler to hammer it into the executive's heart, sending the demon back to the hell from which it came. The CTO let out a terrifying screech, and within moments, their body disintegrated into a pile of ashes. The room fell silent, and I knew I had done what was necessary to protect the company and its employees. This experience underscored the importance of cohesive leadership styles. Aligning leadership approaches is essential to fostering a collaborative and innovative environment, allowing teams to work together effectively towards shared goals. By ensuring consistency in leadership, we can drive positive outcomes even in the most unforeseen circumstances 💪🌟. #Leadership #Collaboration #Teamwork #Adaptability #CareerGrowth #ProfessionalDevelopment

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Miss the conversation between Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang at SIGGRAPH? Watch the whole conversation as they dive into the latest advancements in generative AI and open-source software, and explore how these technologies are empowering developers and creators to build new and innovative experiences. #GAI #TheNextComputingPlatforms #opensource #opencompute

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🚨🚨 Important Update on EB-1 Visa Eligibility! 🚨🚨 📢 On October 2, 2024, USCIS issued new guidance on the EB-1 extraordinary ability (E11) immigrant visa criteria! 📢 In this latest policy update, USCIS has provided clarifications on the types of evidence they consider when determining EB-1 eligibility, making it easier for applicants and petitioners to understand what's required. 📜 Key Highlights: 1️⃣ Team Awards: USCIS will now recognize team awards as valid evidence under the “nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards” criterion. 🏆 2️⃣ Memberships: Past memberships can be evaluated as part of the membership criterion for extraordinary ability. 👥 3️⃣ Published Material: Language implying that published material must demonstrate the value of a person’s work has been removed, providing more flexibility. 📝 4️⃣ Exhibitions: While "exhibition" is broadly defined, USCIS clarifies that only artistic exhibitions will count unless evidence properly supports claims of comparable achievements. 🎨 This update brings clarity and transparency, helping applicants better prepare their evidence and strengthening their petitions. 💼 🔗 Read the full update here: https://lnkd.in/dUTQWz-4 This policy is effective immediately and overrides any previous guidance on these topics. 📚 For more details, check out the Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part F, Chapter 2. ✨ We feel this is great news! Want to stay ahead of the curve and get that green card? Email your resume to [email protected] today! 🚀 Visit us at: www.jineegreencard.com #USImmigration #GreenCard #EB1Visa #ImmigrationGuidance

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Exciting news! Our team has released a new feature that I'm thrilled to share with you all. Auto-Association is now available to help our customers connect their data to our AWS Supply Chain Data Lake. Thanks to Generative AI, powered by Amazon Bedrock, we can read a variety of source data and automatically build the SQL transformation recipes needed to convert this data into our canonical data model. I'm particularly proud of this feature and want to extend a special thanks to my manager, Jyothi Bodas, for leading the project. If you're interested in learning more about Auto-Association, check out the demo video Jyothi created. I want to thank the entire team for producing such an awesome feature for our customers! Alok Mehta, Asim Joshi, Christie Molloy, Colin Ashfield, Leonardo Murri, Michael Walsh, Parshant Chowdhary, Shalini Thinderu,Tom Nolan, Vita Grebeniuk and the host of other team members that made this happen. I also want to send out a thanks to our leaders- Ameet Vaswani, Diego Pantoja-Navajas, Dilip Kumar, Alex Dunlap, and to our Customer Success team led by Tariq Choudry. #aws #amazon #amazonbedrock #AWSSupplyChain #day1

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While there are certainly individual variations in skill and experience when discussing modern software development the story is much more nuanced than pure individual effort.  * software development is a team sport -- individual performance is heavily impacted by the system in which they are asked to operate in.  * we pair skill and experience to this model of understanding performance by expecting people to be able to influence and adapt in direct proportion to their seniority, aka the more senior you are the more responsible you are for the outcomes of your work, the less senior you are the more your manager and management chain are responsible.  * humans want to succeed, we're social animals who derive purpose from demonstrating skill, and working collectively. All of which is to say there is no way you have over 1000 people underperforming at your company without senior leadership deeply implicated in.  If nearly 10% of your company is failing, versus just having the market move against you, you need to fire the CEO.

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Monday Blues: Engineer to Manager Edition 💻📈 As a software engineer, Monday blues meant gearing up for coding sprints and bug fixes. Now, as a manager leading 20+ high-performing (and some needing a nudge 😉) team members, the game has shifted. But here’s the secret: I’ve learned to manage Mondays before they manage me. 🔑 What I do: ✨ Protect weekends: I unplug unless something critical arises—rest fuels resilience. ✨ Sunday catch-up: I spend 30 minutes on Sunday evening mapping out the week. It’s not about working but setting the stage for a smoother Monday. ✨ Weekly clarity: I identify my top three priorities for the week early. Even with operational demands and unexpected fires, this gives me focus and direction. ✨ Team sync: Monday mornings, I set clear goals with my team, aligning individual contributions with big-picture outcomes. Clarity = confidence. ✨ Celebrate small wins: Acknowledging progress from last week boosts momentum and team morale. 💡 Why it works: It helps me support my team better, stay proactive, and show up as the leader they need—focused, calm, and prepared. The truth is, it’s not about hustling harder. It’s about working smarter, planning better, and knowing when to unplug. How do you tackle your Monday blues? Share your tips—I'd love to learn! #Leadership #EngineeringManagement #Productivity #Teamwork #MondayMotivation #ManagerLife #TeamGrowth

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We released a new update of our Visual Studio Code Java extension. Go try it! Bunch of new improvements and already supporting JDK 23 Early Access builds as the extension is directly leveraging javac. https://lnkd.in/g8BKsNjS #java #IDE #OpenJDK #VSCode

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Check how we've defined controlled and secure access patterns for generative AI models at Expedia Group. Our newly implemented platform sets robust guardrails, prevents vendor lock-in, and offers seamless access to a variety of GenAI models with a single authentication. This marks the first phase of our generative AI toolkit. https://lnkd.in/eGvWTgti

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Managing and delivering a robust CI/CD pipeline at scale is a complex and evolving challenge. The term “CI/CD” holds varied meanings across different work cultures, reflecting diverse priorities and practices. As the technology landscape continues to grow, CI/CD has become just one component of the broader and increasingly significant developer enablement ecosystem. Read more at https://lnkd.in/gPwGFrTk

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Software Development Manager opening! Check out the link in the post below to learn more.

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📊 Alphabet’s Q3 2024 Revenue Breakdown 📊 Alphabet's third-quarter results reflect strong revenue growth across its main segments, driven by advancements in core services and a focus on high-demand cloud solutions. Here’s a quick summary: 🔹 Total Revenue: $88.3 billion, up 15% year-over-year. 🔸 Google Services: Delivered $76.5 billion, supported by Google Search, YouTube, and growing subscriptions. ☁️ Google Cloud: Reached $11.4 billion, marking a 35% increase YoY. 🌐 Other Bets: Contributed modestly at $388 million. 📈 Revenue Composition: The pie chart below highlights each segment’s contribution, showcasing Google Search & Other as the primary driver, with notable shares from YouTube Ads and Google Cloud. 💼 Takeaway: Alphabet’s revenue growth trajectory demonstrates its successful strategy in leveraging AI and cloud innovations. As these segments expand, Alphabet’s impact in digital services and enterprise solutions will only deepen. #Alphabet #Google #Earnings #Tech

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🎉 Big congratulations to our incredible team (Haoyu Chen, Nick Greenquist,Yuxing Wang, Sridevi Maharaj, Ruiyang Wu and many more) for delivering several quarters-long impactful features on the Play Store! 🚀 We’re thrilled to have launched key updates like Search Home, Sports Moment, and WearOS recommendations, all designed to enhance personalization and help billions of users worldwide search and discover content they love. 🌍✨ Check out the Play Store Q3 updates: https://lnkd.in/dn5wx8Mi #GooglePlay #Personalization #Recommendation

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Two facts: First: Jack and the Storefront team handle some of the most interesting problems at Recharge if you're into caching, synchronizing, and lots of data puzzles to solve. Second: I work with the team as Principal so we'd get to have some fun while we do the first part.

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Embracing Code Reviews and Alternative Solutions As software engineers, we often spend hours immersed in our own code, confident that our design patterns, logic, and methods are the best approach. The clarity in our heads translates into a sense of ownership and pride in our work, which is essential to driving innovation and solving complex problems. However, when our code undergoes a code review or we receive feedback from a peer, it’s natural to become defensive, certain that our path is the right one. This confidence can be valuable—it enables us to advocate for our ideas and push through challenges. But once in a while, it might be worth modeling the alternative. What if the reviewer’s suggestion is valid? What if their critique points to an edge case or a more elegant solution we hadn’t considered? How would implementing their idea change the system’s performance, readability, or scalability? Instead of dismissing alternative perspectives outright, we can ask ourselves: • If they’re right, how does that change the codebase or the user experience? • How can I use this insight to strengthen the project overall? In software development, embracing alternatives doesn’t mean admitting defeat—it’s about collaboration and continuous improvement. If the feedback leads to a better solution, great! If it doesn’t, we still gain clarity on why our original approach works, and we can confidently return to it. The beauty of software engineering lies in its iterative nature. We can always refactor, rebuild, and refine tomorrow. The willingness to entertain “if our peer is right” not only strengthens our code but also fosters a culture of openness and shared learning within the team. After all, no single function, framework, or developer has all the answers. But together, through constructive feedback and an open mind, we build something greater than the sum of its parts. #softwareengineering #teamwork

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I am writing this just before we start the second of three days where my fellow Principal Engineers in Amazon's People eXperience and Technology organization have come together to discuss strategic technical challenges and how we can leverage our collective skills, talents, knowledge, strengths, and collaborative power to inform solutions to these challenges while delivering real incremental value. Remember my post about the people I work with a couple of weeks ago? This is precisely what I meant. I feel so energized and motivated, ready to take on even the most difficult of situations with the support of my peers - an incredible group of crazy smart and kind people with diverse backgrounds who really care about doing good for our customers (current, future, and former Amazonians) and one another, and from whom I learn a great deal every time we meet. ... which reminds me, we are hiring Principal Engineers in People eXperience and Technology! If you are an experienced software engineering individual contributor leader and if improving the lives of one of the largest, most varied, and complex global populations as part of an amazing community like the one I described speaks to you, please message me to learn more! #amazon #softwareengineering #community #hiring

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