Chatting with an LLM is like talking to a college student about their major—quick answers, confident tone, but no plan. Ask something complex, and they'll blurt out the first idea that pops in. Fast, but often running on vibes over facts.
Zain Rizvi
I'm a Software Engineer who's spent over a decade building the infrastructure used by millions of devs around the world. In the past I helped build Stripe, GCP & Azure. Nowadays I build PyTorch
Want to make a feature change to PyTorch?
With such a large number of commits coming in, PyTorch needs a process for managing it all to keep the codebase maintainable. For smaller changes, like a five line bug fix, this takes the form of a regular PR review. For larger changes, we prefer a Request for Comments
The Software Engineer's Career Ladder
What's expected of you when you're a junior, senior, or staff software engineer, and what it takes to rise up in the ranks.
Insider's Guide to Passing FAANG Interviews
My 12+ years as both the interviewer and interviewee at Google, Microsoft, and Stripe taught me one thing: Standard interviewing advice falls woefully short. Grinding interview questions isn't enough. Here's what to do.
PARA vs Zettelkasten: The false binary
I started practicing PARA and Zettelkasten two years ago [https://www.zainrizvi.io/blog/remembering-what-you-read-zettelkasten-vs-para/]. Here's what I've realized after twenty four months of practice: Change the system, not yourself There's a common mistake
Why Software Engineers like Woodworking
The smell of fresh pine sawdust filled the air, with more floating up as I sanded the last rough corner of the stool. My toddler was happily sanding her own block off to the side. Woodworking was a new hobby
Newsletter #28 - People aren't that logical
Hey folks, Your nuggets for the week: 1. Motivation comes from Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose 2. People aren't that logical 3. Pick your ideas apart #1 Motivation comes from Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose Three factors which get you
Newsletter #27 - Managing Up
Hey folks, Today's nuggets: 1. Complement your manager's skillset 2. Ask for what you want 3. Prove your work is important 4. Get others to prove your case #1 Complement your manager's skills Learn
Newsletter #26 - 2020 in Review
There goes 2020. This was the year I started writing seriously. It started off as a way to remember what I read [https://www.zainrizvi.io/#why-i-write], with this newsletter being an effective forcing function [https://www.zainrizvi.io/newsletter/
Your confusion is the litmus test
I was fumbling in the dark. Groping blindly. It seemed so much simpler a month ago. "Hey, could you integrate this tool into our service?" my manager had asked. "Sure," I'd replied. "How
#21 Help yourself by helping others
In economics class they told us people work harder as they paid more. That greed was a virtue. It sounded iffy. You may have noticed the opposite yourself: * How did you feel the last time you worked on a project
#20 I was Bored at Google
It felt wrong. I was one year into working at Google, one of the best companies in the world. People die to get a job here. But...something was off. I was bored. Yes, the amenities were great. The food