Sean Corcoran

The difference between a mid-level engineer and a senior engineer? Mid-level thinks: 'How do I build this feature?' Senior thinks: 'How does this feature interact with 15 other services at 3am when traffic spikes?' That shift in thinking is what system design interviews test. And the fastest way to build that muscle? Study one complex, real-world system deeply like eCommerce.   This guide breaks down the key components of a robust eCommerce architecture:   1. User Flows for search and purchase, routed through load balancers   2. Core Services like cart, wishlist, order, inventory, and item management   3. Supporting Systems like recommendation engines, serviceability checks, and warehouse logistics   4. Real-time Infrastructure powered by Kafka, Spark, and streaming clusters   5. Data Layers using MySQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, and archival systems   6. Integration Points with notification services, user auth, and analytics pipelines   If you are preparing for a system design interview or building your own eCommerce product, this diagram is a great starting point to understand how everything connects. So, if you are ready to rebuild your career, learn directly from Senior FAANG Engineers who have been on the other side of the table and know what it really takes to get hired. Start your mentorship journey with Everyone Who Codes and let’s turn your next opportunity into your biggest career win. Master System Design for SDE 1- SDE 3 interviews with our Sr. FAANG Mentors from Everyone Who Codes (EWC) - https://lnkd.in/gvNFmtti #FAANG #techinterviewprep #FAANGMentors #mentorship #softwareengineer #softwaredeveloper #jobsearch #joboffer #hiring #AI #systemdesign #mockinterview

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I see multiple posts on here daily about the importance of learning Linux first if you want to “do DevOps” I roll my eyes, not because Linux isn’t useful, but it’s another one of those foundational elements of platform engineering that are confused with DevOps capabilities. It’s almost 2026 and the language and vocabulary of DevOps is still far outrunning the cultural and organisational requirements that actually enable it. Too many engineers are still confused between practical skills and cultural awareness. The real value of DevOps isn’t knowing distros, commands, or specific tooling. It’s understanding how work flows through an organisation and why it so often gets stuck. Its about making sure that teams who have power also have the ability to safely make decisions with that power and be accountable for them. It’s about being able to collaborate and create coherence across fragmented engineering teams, spot bottlenecks created by structure and misaligned incentives and then help teams work together more effectively. Great DevOps practitioners focus on: - Improving feedback loops, not just pipelines - Reducing friction between teams, not just build times - Balancing speed with organisational risk appetite - Designing systems that work for both people and constraints You can teach yourself Linux. I’m sure it will be a great skill, but it’s not the gateway into DevOps practices that many would have you believe. It’s much harder, but ultimately more valuable, to teach yourself how to align teams, navigate constraints, and improve delivery at scale. If you want to “do DevOps” well, forget the distro wars and tools for a moment and start by learning how organisations actually work and what practices need to change to make them work better.

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