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Technicalwarm-up
What happens when you type a URL into a browser and press Enter?
How to approach it
Walk the request in order, from finding the server to drawing the page, and say where a PM would see slowness or failure at each step.
How a strong answer opens
“I'll walk it in order, from finding the server to drawing the page, and at each step I'll say where a user would feel slowness or a failure.”
Outline of a strong answer
Try answering out loud for a few minutes before you open this.
- The browser checks its cache, then DNS turns the name into an IP address
- A connection is opened and secured with TLS for HTTPS
- The browser sends an HTTP request; the server or a CDN responds
- The server may call databases and other services before replying
- The browser parses HTML, fetches CSS, scripts and images, and renders
- Point out where speed is won or lost: DNS, distance, page weight, server time
Where this question usually goes wrong
Reciting networking jargon out of order with no link to what the user experiences, or going so deep on one step that you never reach the page.
Learn the method
How the web works, at PM depth in Module 6, Technical for PMs.
The full kit has worked answers in full, start to finish, for every round type. $129 once.
More technical questions
- Explain the difference between SQL and NoSQL databases, and when you'd pick each.
- How would you design a URL shortener, at the level a PM needs?
- How would you design the backend for a photo-sharing app's news feed?
- Engineering says a feature will take six months. How do you respond?
- What is a cache, and what could go wrong if your product relies on one?