Interviews

Background I have been wondering how to simplify the concept of handshakes - not the human handshakes; I’m talking about the computer ones, like the ones that happen between a server and a client when establishing a connection over HTTPS. So I went reading online to see if the content was digestible for everyone - including beginners. I couldn’t find a simple diagrammatic representation, so I thought maybe this is my chance to draw them and help others understand it at a glance. To be fair, it isn’t that straightforward to jump into discussing TLS handshakes, without learning about a few key terms. So I am certain that I will update this post with more information later on ...

Background As a relatively senior engineering manager, I have been transforming into a less technical person over time. The reason being, I am in charge of two fantastic teams that both have excellent engineers. I generally rely on the technical leads of the respective teams to own the technical aspects of their domains and try to interfere as little as possible. I do this to empower them to take more ownership and learn to be accountable. After all it is humanly impossible to be everywhere at the same time. I build my teams based on trust, psychological safety and accountability. However, I do review their technical proposals and other documents or design diagrams etc. and I challenge them by asking questions. I have never had to tell them what is right or wrong so far and I don’t think that I’ll ever need to do that either, because our hiring process is good enough to filter out problem candidates. I give them the feedback they need at the time they need it, covering their blind-spots when necessary. ...