Common Questions for Senior and Lead Developers

Soft Skills

Release tomorrow, but someone doesn't want to merge changes

  • Identify reasons for resistance to merge:
    • Technical issues
    • Code quality concerns
    • Personal conflicts
  • Conduct urgent code review
  • Assess risks:
    • Possibility of postponing release
    • Criticality of changes
  • Find compromise:
    • Agree on post-release improvements
    • Separate critical and non-critical changes
  • Escalate to team lead/manager if necessary

    • Feature without requirements - how to proceed?

  • Organize stakeholder meeting
  • Create list of questions and assumptions
  • Draft requirements document
  • Align requirements with stakeholders
  • Iteratively refine requirements during development

    • Subordinate is late with multiple tasks

  • Conduct one-on-one meeting:
    • Understand reasons for delays
    • Identify needed support
  • Help with task prioritization
  • Offer additional resources
  • Set intermediate checkpoints
  • Adjust estimates and deadlines

    • What to do if task is blocked?

  • Clearly identify blocking cause
  • Look for workarounds
  • Escalate issue to appropriate people
  • Switch to other tasks
  • Regularly check blocking status

    • Where Agile is not suitable?

  • Projects with fixed budget and timeline
  • Mission-critical systems (healthcare, aviation)
  • Projects with strict regulatory requirements
  • Small simple projects
  • Teams with geographically distributed members

    • Handling failed key feature

  • Quickly assess failure causes
  • Inform stakeholders
  • Propose alternative solutions
  • Create recovery plan
  • Extract lessons for future projects

    • Documentation resistance

  • Explain documentation importance:
    • For new team members
    • For project maintenance
    • For knowledge transfer
  • Implement simple tools
  • Start small - document key points
  • Automate documentation generation
  • Make documentation part of development process

    • Conflict resolution

  • Listen to all sides of conflict
  • Identify root cause
  • Seek compromise solution
  • Establish clear interaction rules
  • Monitor agreement compliance

    • Technology selection

  • Define requirements and constraints:
    • Performance
    • Scalability
    • Security
  • Evaluate existing technologies
  • Conduct POC (proof of concept)
  • Consider long-term implications
  • Align choice with team

    • Technical Leadership

    How to handle technical debt?

  • Regular monitoring:
    • Code quality metrics
    • Performance
    • Test coverage
  • Prioritize critical issues
  • Allocate time for refactoring
  • Document known issues
  • Balance new features and improvements

    • Managing team growth

  • Clear onboarding process:
    • Documentation
    • Mentoring
    • Training
  • Document processes and knowledge
  • Assign mentors
  • Regular 1-on-1 meetings
  • Gradual increase in responsibility

    • Handling production incidents

  • Establish escalation process
  • Have recovery plan:
    • Rollback procedures
    • Backup systems
  • Maintain incident log
  • Conduct post-mortem analysis
  • Improve monitoring and alerting

    • Team motivation

  • Clear goals and expectations
  • Recognition of achievements
  • Growth opportunities:
    • Learning
    • Conferences
    • New technologies
  • Decision-making autonomy
  • Healthy work-life balance

    • Project estimation

  • Use historical data
  • Consider risks and uncertainties
  • Involve team in estimation
  • Add buffer for contingencies
  • Regularly reassess progress

    • Development Process

    How to organize code review?

  • Establish clear review criteria:
    • Code quality
    • Test coverage
    • Documentation
  • Automate checks
  • Provide constructive feedback
  • Conduct timely reviews
  • Use code review for learning

    • Working with large tasks

  • Break into subtasks
  • Identify critical path
  • Set intermediate goals
  • Regularly track progress
  • Be ready for adjustments

    • Implementing process changes

  • Start small
  • Gather feedback
  • Measure results
  • Adjust based on experience
  • Scale successful practices

    • Scrum and Agile

    Core Scrum roles

  • Product Owner:
    • Responsible for product
    • Manages backlog
    • Sets priorities
  • Scrum Master:
    • Facilitates processes
    • Removes impediments
    • Helps team
  • Development Team:
    • Develops product
    • Self-organizing
    • Cross-functional

    Scrum disadvantages

  • Time estimation complexity
  • Team availability dependency
  • Need for constant communication
  • Difficulty with fixed deadlines
  • Requires team maturity

    • Scrum vs Kanban differences

  • Scrum:
    • Fixed sprints
    • Defined roles
    • Story point estimation
  • Kanban:
    • Continuous flow
    • Flexible roles
    • Focus on cycle time
  • Choice depends on:
    • Project type
    • Team maturity
    • Business requirements

    Management and Leadership

    Crisis Management

  • Immediate Response:
    • Assess situation severity
    • Form crisis response team
    • Establish communication channels
  • Action Plan:
    • Define immediate steps
    • Allocate resources
    • Set clear responsibilities
  • Communication:
    • Keep stakeholders informed
    • Provide regular updates
    • Be transparent about issues
  • Resolution:
    • Implement solutions
    • Monitor progress
    • Document lessons learned
  • Prevention:
    • Update processes
    • Improve monitoring
    • Enhance training

    Strategic Planning

  • Vision and Goals:
    • Align with business objectives
    • Set measurable targets
    • Define success criteria
  • Resource Planning:
    • Team capacity assessment
    • Skill gap analysis
    • Training needs identification
  • Risk Management:
    • Identify potential risks
    • Develop mitigation strategies
    • Create contingency plans
  • Implementation:
    • Break down into phases
    • Set milestones
    • Track progress
  • Review and Adjust:
    • Regular assessments
    • Feedback incorporation
    • Strategy refinement

    Mentoring Program

  • Program Structure:
    • Clear objectives
    • Timeline definition
    • Success metrics
  • Mentor Selection:
    • Experience requirements
    • Communication skills
    • Time commitment
  • Mentee Development:
    • Skill assessment
    • Learning path creation
    • Progress tracking
  • Knowledge Transfer:
    • Technical skills
    • Soft skills
    • Company culture
  • Program Evaluation:
    • Regular feedback
    • Effectiveness measurement
    • Continuous improvement

    Technical Excellence

    Code Quality Management

  • Standards Implementation:
    • Coding guidelines
    • Review processes
    • Automated checks
  • Quality Metrics:
    • Code coverage
    • Complexity measures
    • Performance indicators
  • Continuous Improvement:
    • Regular assessments
    • Team feedback
    • Process refinement
  • Tools and Automation:
    • Linting setup
    • CI/CD pipeline
    • Testing framework
  • Knowledge Sharing:
    • Documentation
    • Team workshops
    • Best practices

    Architecture Design

  • System Design:
    • Scalability considerations
    • Performance requirements
    • Security aspects
  • Technology Selection:
    • Stack evaluation
    • Tool assessment
    • Framework choice
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Phasing plan
    • Migration approach
    • Risk mitigation
  • Quality Assurance:
    • Testing strategy
    • Performance monitoring
    • Security audits
  • Maintenance Plan:
    • Update procedures
    • Backup strategies
    • Disaster recovery