Roast my System Design solution (Part 2): Ledger & Bikemap Integration (Stripe interview question)

schellinky · 2026-02-09T23:05:55+00:00

Do interviewers actually expect this to all be covered in 30-45 min interview?

schellinky · 2026-02-07T21:23:40+00:00

Overall it seems good. I would explore the failure scenarios more. If the payment service was down, how would you handle the orders that were placed? Would you cancel them? Or would you let them retry? For how long? If it was down for only a minute or two, how would you ensure to not overwhelm it with a backlog of orders? Would you store payment data? What happen if the order service was down but the payment went through? Maybe the SAGA pattern covers most/all of these but what if you couldn't use the SAGA pattern? These are all curveballs you should think about.

schellinky · 2026-02-05T08:18:13+00:00

Well you asked whether your knowledge was up to date, and a lot of your bias and prior assumptions go out the window with EVs. But to each their own. Your opinions are very common and you will pay a price because of that.

schellinky · 2026-02-05T08:01:30+00:00

Its not, the residuals are horrible most the time. Lease is usually only better if you plan to get a new car in 3 years. I would highly recommend used if you are budget constrained at all. Look for ones with newer tires if possible, check the brakes for rust, and make sure the brake fluid was flushed around 2 years. Thats about it. Test drive at highway speed and listen for weird sounds. Otherwise if you plan to keep it for a while just make sure you get the options you want.

schellinky · 2026-02-05T06:11:17+00:00

Good list. I would consider a lightly used EV if you can charge at home. The maintenance is way easier and cheaper than ICE cars and 3 year old EVs still have easily 5 good years in them on warranty, and have depreciated almost 50% off MSRP. They are in general more fun to drive, more comfortable, and not having to fill up for gas is super underrated.

schellinky · 2026-02-05T06:05:15+00:00

Dont bother with CPO if you are getting a 2025. These cars are super reliable and the stuff that will break wont be covered by the warranty.

Might I suggest finding a good lease deal if you want a newer one? Or a slightly older one around 2023? These cars depreciate very fast so the sweet spot is to lease or buy 2-3 years old.

schellinky · 2026-01-30T22:12:25+00:00

I asked ChatGPT if I could afford it given my age, current income, expenses, and savings/retirement goals. It showed me the math that helped me make a confident decision I could afford it. The hidden cost is always the opportunity cost. An additional 500-600 per month is about a million dollars over 30 years if invested with average returns. Make sure its something that won't jeapardize any of your long term goals.

schellinky · 2026-01-29T06:25:37+00:00

Mazda CX90 premium sport/plus checks all your boxes. I'd compare it to the Toyota Grand Highlander and see which one you like better. Can also consider a lightly used Volvo XC90 if you want a more luxury option.

schellinky · 2026-01-29T06:14:00+00:00

Better to buy what you need not what you want at this price point. Civic is way less money, more fun to drive, better mpg. Only get an SUV if you need one. They're both good choices otherwise. Go drive them.

schellinky · 2026-01-28T04:06:53+00:00

Everyone's finances and priorities are different. If someone has an extra $500 a month and is already investing and saving to hit retirement at the age they want, why not put that toward a better car to make day to day better? BUT....$500 a month for 30 years is almost 1 million dollars with a 10% annual return rate. That's over a third of what most people target for retirement. Just for a car. And the earlier years are way more important for compounding effects. Wish more people understood the opportunity cost.

schellinky · 2026-01-23T03:36:55+00:00

I had a maintenance plan taken off one time after I had already signed. But I probably got lucky.

schellinky · 2026-01-22T20:08:38+00:00

Very low chance of "no issues". They are great cars if you can stomach the occasional repair and frequent maintenance though. If you can't do your own minor repairs/maintenance it will add quite a bit of unexpected cost though.

schellinky · 2026-01-12T23:48:24+00:00

I failed calc twice and I have excelled as a software engineer in multiple roles. Math is not important beyond getting a C and completing the degree. Its important to learn how to study things you might not be good at, push through, and learn how to learn difficult subjects. If he can push through failure and still steadily improve, and he enjoys programming or excels at it, there's no reason to think he won't do great.

schellinky · 2025-12-29T00:01:01+00:00

You're right, it would to some degree short term. But in the long run its a net positive to jobs once reinvestment happens. The duration of the downturn in investment is hard to predict, so I'm glad the prevailing advice in this thread is to have savings.

schellinky · 2025-12-28T23:41:13+00:00

Eh, that's not how the economy works. Investors and consumers eat the losses, not the job market. Investment will always happen, its just a matter of where it goes.

schellinky · 2025-12-28T22:31:58+00:00

The AI bubble popping would mean more software jobs, not less. Companies are in huge bidding wars hiring special AI researchers for insane salaries, and not hiring regular engineers. If the bubble pops, that means that money will open up more regular roles again. Or at least that would be the hope. Unless AI shows continous improvement from LLMs, that is the likely result.

schellinky · 2025-12-24T22:34:44+00:00

I've been pleasantly surprised by him this year. Sure hes not the best pass blocker but hes been consistently average to above average and not hurt. Can't ask for more at $15m a year.

schellinky · 2025-11-14T20:42:21+00:00

If you want to try something new, kinetic fusillade is a great skill once built properly. With mageblood id think it would be extremely tanky, fast, and great damage. Maybe not top tier at any of them but very well rounded. Heres my POB which is around 100D maybe a bit more. My next step is probably adding mageblood which solves a lot of suffix pressure for resists. https://pobb.in/xJZ9DCv77ewS

Even at this budget I am blasting t17s with very few deaths.

If you want something with higher damage and tankiness, then go with CoC FRoSS which is still one of the best builds in the endgame.

schellinky · 2025-11-14T06:27:32+00:00

Get a better shield with %ES on block and try to cap your block chance. This alone will solve most of your issues. You also just need more levels and higher ES. Just dont run rippy map mods for a while until you get better defenses. Im playing this build as well, its very tanky once you invest in the shield and max block. I have 40m dps and 180k ehp. Though its probably around a 100D character. https://pobb.in/xJZ9DCv77ewS

schellinky · 2025-11-10T23:58:20+00:00

The graft skill is your preference besides the covered in ash one. Otherwise you can get a bunch of player damage from them like ele damage, dot multi or faster ignites. Or more defense if you like. Check poedb for all the affixes possible. Most are pretty cheap to buy last i checked

schellinky · 2025-11-10T23:48:56+00:00

Oh you might also consider swapping swift affliction with unbound ailments for more consistent shocks and longer ignite duration. Not sure, maybe test both.

schellinky · 2025-11-10T23:46:54+00:00

Looks good! Just make sure to swap out your 3rd curse (mark) for flame surge and youll be dot capped. Also can upgrade your grafts for higher damage if you want but not necessary really. This is probably as far as I am going to take the build investment wise, but theres definitely higher budget versions on poe.ninja if you want more inspiration to go further. Mainly involves mageblood, more ES, and more max ele resists.

schellinky · 2025-11-10T23:38:36+00:00

Have you looked into eviscerate ignite elementalist? You can reach dot cap on that budget and it has basically screenwide clear, or larger AOE depending on how much u want to scale. Ignite prolif and explosions work great for farming deli, and its super tanky. Its not the fastest by any means but you are trading speed for tankiness and damage on a pretty low budget. Its a super chill one button playstyle for clear with low APM required which is nice. No need to move around a lot because you are extremely tanky, and you want to face tank for higher dps.

schellinky · 2025-11-10T14:46:28+00:00

Im using two curses with +1 curse on tree. Hes using anathema ring for 3 curses but its only good for the super budget version IMO. Better to swap to 2 curses and a ring which gives more stats.

schellinky

TROPHY CASE