Summary
I interviewed for an SDE-2 role at Arista Networks. The process included project discussions, system design concepts, and two coding problems. Unfortunately, I was rejected as my solution for the deadlock problem wasn't as optimal as expected.
Full Experience
I got a call from a recruiter via Naukri for an SDE-2 position at Arista Networks. I have 4 years of experience at an American MNC.
My first round involved a discussion about my past projects and how HTTPS works internally. Following this, I was given a small code snippet and tasked with finding a deadlock, discussing its nature, and resolving it. The interviewer provided an example scenario: 'A wants to transfer money to B, and at the same time, B wants to transfer money to A.'
The second question presented was a LeetCode problem: Time Based Key-Value Store.
The verdict was a rejection. While I solved the first question using a global lock, they were looking for a more granular level locking mechanism.
Interview Questions (2)
I was presented with a small code snippet and asked to identify a deadlock, discuss its implications, and then propose a resolution. The interviewer gave an example scenario to illustrate the type of deadlock: 'If user A wants to transfer money to user B, and simultaneously, user B wants to transfer money to user A, how would you handle the potential deadlock?'
This was a standard LeetCode problem where I needed to design a time-based key-value store. The store should allow setting a key with a value and timestamp, and retrieving the value of a key at a specific timestamp, returning the largest value whose timestamp is less than or equal to the given timestamp.
Summary
I interviewed with Arista Networks, solving two DSA problems and answering Java theory questions, but ultimately received a rejection despite feeling confident in my performance.
Full Experience
I had an interview with Arista Networks. The discussion started with my current work. Following that, I was given two DSA problems: 'Search in Rotated Sorted Array' and 'Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters'. There were also several Java-specific theory questions, including topics like the Singleton pattern, and the static and final keywords. I successfully solved both DSA problems and provided answers for all the theory questions. I felt confident about qualifying for the next round, but unfortunately, I received a rejection. I'm unsure what companies are looking for these days; perhaps the position was filled or there was a misalignment with the role. Nevertheless, I wish everyone the best of luck!
Interview Questions (5)
Given a sorted array that has been rotated at some pivot unknown to you beforehand, search for a given target value. If the target is found in the array, return its index, otherwise return -1. You may assume no duplicate exists in the array.
Given a string s, find the length of the longest substring without repeating characters.
Explain the Singleton design pattern in Java, including its purpose, common implementations (e.g., eager, lazy, thread-safe), and scenarios where it is typically used.
Describe the static keyword in Java. Discuss its usage with variables, methods, and blocks, and explain its implications for memory management and access.
Explain the final keyword in Java. Discuss its application to variables, methods, and classes, and describe the behavior and restrictions it imposes in each context.
Summary
I interviewed with Arista Networks, going through two technical rounds that assessed my coding skills on problems like String to Integer (atoi) and strlen implementation, alongside questions on projects, OS concepts, and networking. I was ultimately rejected.
Full Experience
I received a call from a recruiter at Arista Networks, which led to two technical interview rounds.
First Round: For the first technical round, I was presented with the LeetCode problem 'String to Integer (atoi)'. In addition to this coding challenge, the interviewer delved into technical questions about my previous projects. Topics covered included debugging tools, memory sanitizers, segmentation faults (SEGV), and compiler functionalities.
Second Round: The second round was more focused on system-level concepts. I was asked questions pertaining to multithreading, Inter-Process Communication (IPC), various shell commands, and networking principles. A practical coding task involved implementing the strlen() function in C.
Overall, I found the difficulty level of the questions to be easy. However, there was a strong expectation for practical and in-depth knowledge of networking. Despite my performance, the final verdict was a rejection.
Interview Questions (2)
Implement the myAtoi(string s) function, which converts a string to a 32-bit signed integer. The function should handle leading whitespace, an optional sign, and digits, stopping at the first non-digit character. It must also consider edge cases like empty strings, non-numeric strings, and integer overflow/underflow.
Implement the standard C library function size_t strlen(const char *str), which computes the length of the string str. The length is defined as the number of characters in the string, excluding the terminating null character.
Summary
I interviewed with Arista Networks for a role involving three rounds. I cleared the initial DSA round but was rejected after the second round, which included system design and further technical questions.
Full Experience
Supposed to have 3 rounds
DSA Technical Design and Coding/ Manager discussion Hiring Manager
Round 1(60 minutes): DSA Round started with resume discussions Question 1: Create a Doubly Linked List class. Write Instance Methods for this class to be able to
- remove all the nodes in the doubly linked list which have their value equal to a given value.
- Insert a node at a desired position (node and position are given). The Linked List is 0 indexed. If given node is a node existing in the Linked List shift it to the desired position
Question 2: Find element in sorted rotated array
Was able to solve both of them and write the whole code Their expectation is to write whole tree/linked list code from scratch. Make sure you practise it once before the DSA round. Its highly probable to get one question on tree/linked list. They will ask some linux debugging commands, OS related questions and some granular C/C++ concepts(templates,STL,etc)
The interviewer was very dull and expected me to know all of the C++ template concepts. I have heard similar experiences from others too. Try to revise OS/memory concepts and hope for best.
(I was able to solve both quickly so they proceeded with second round but I had no idea about many C/C++ questions so i was not much confident about next round)
Round 2(90 minutes): The interviewer was a manager. He was quite interactive and helpful. First 30 minutes were around reusme discussion and he was asking more about linux concepts as I had some projects around it. Even in this round I was asked few OS questions but the interviewer was friedly in the directions i had no idea about. Then he moved to a top-k system question where there were multiple servers receiving logs from main system about which (ip,port) is trying to call the system with what kind of packets and had various queries like which ip address was the highest, which server is handling more load, etc. He was interested to know more about which Data structure would I choose and how would i handle the data in those data structures with correct TC and SC. He was changing the constraints with time. I was able to figure out most of the queries using maps and priority queues and solved few of the last queries with small hints.
Verdict- Rejected
Interview Questions (3)
Create a Doubly Linked List class. Write Instance Methods for this class to be able to
- remove all the nodes in the doubly linked list which have their value equal to a given value.
- Insert a node at a desired position (node and position are given). The Linked List is 0 indexed. If given node is a node existing in the Linked List shift it to the desired position
Find element in sorted rotated array
A top-k system question where there were multiple servers receiving logs from main system about which (ip,port) is trying to call the system with what kind of packets and had various queries like which ip address was the highest, which server is handling more load, etc. The interviewer was interested to know more about which Data structure I would choose and how I would handle the data in those data structures with correct TC and SC. The constraints were changing with time.
Preparation Tips
Their expectation is to write whole tree/linked list code from scratch, so practice it before the DSA round as it's highly probable. They also ask about Linux debugging commands, OS related questions, and granular C/C++ concepts (templates, STL). I recommend revising OS/memory concepts.
Summary
I interviewed for an SDE 3 role at Arista Networks. I was rejected in the first technical round after attempting two Data Structures & Algorithms problems.
Full Experience
The interviewer directly reached through some channel, Supposed to have 3 rounds
- Tech Discussion/ DSA
- System Design
- Hiring Manager
Got Rejected in first round itself
Verdict: Rejected
Summary
I interviewed for a backend role at Arista Networks in Bangalore, undergoing three rounds focused on DSA, core concepts, HLD/LLD, and project discussion. Despite receiving positive feedback after each round, the position was ultimately filled by another candidate, likely due to my remote location hindering an in-person final round.
Full Experience
YOE: 4.5
Got reached out by a recruiter via Naukri for a backend role (Golang) based in Bangalore. The process was briefed as 3 rounds with the final round being in-person with the director for which travel and accommodation expenses would be reimbursed.
Round 1 – DSA + Core Concepts (1 hour)
1 easy problem on Binary Search: https://leetcode.com/problems/find-minimum-in-rotated-sorted-array/description/
1 medium-level DSA problem: https://leetcode.com/problems/insert-delete-getrandom-o1/description/
Followed by an in-depth discussion on the internal working of HashMap
Received positive feedback next week, and the second round was scheduled the following week with the Engineering Manager.
Round 2 – HLD + LLD + Project Discussion (90 minutes)
Deep dive into the architecture of my current project
LLD of a Parking Lot system with focus on core entities, classes & concurrency handling
Again, received positive feedback a week later. I was told the final round would be confirmed soon, pending clarity on whether it would be virtual or in-person (as I’m not located in Bangalore).
Unfortunately, after two weeks of silence and multiple follow-ups, I was informed that the position had been filled.
I believe they went ahead with a candidate who was already in Bangalore and could attend the in-person round. Later saw a compensation post on leetcode as well which suggested the same. The lack of transparency and prolonged delays felt disheartening especially after investing time and energy into multiple rounds.
Interview Questions (5)
An in-depth discussion on the internal working mechanisms of a HashMap data structure, including collision resolution strategies, resizing logic, and factors affecting its performance.
A deep dive into the architecture of the candidate's current project, including components, technologies used, design choices, challenges faced, and how they were addressed.
Design a Low-Level Design (LLD) for a Parking Lot system, focusing on identifying core entities, defining classes and their relationships, and implementing mechanisms for concurrency handling.
Summary
I had an interview at Arista Networks for a role that involved two rounds, covering data structures & algorithms, low-level design, and system design, leveraging my 6 years of experience.
Full Experience
I went through two interview rounds at Arista Networks.
Round 1 focused on data structures and algorithms. I was given two coding problems to solve. The first was a known problem about counting numbers smaller than the current number in an array, and the second was a tree traversal problem to identify 'special' nodes based on their path from the root.
Round 2 covered design concepts. It started with a Low-Level Design (LLD) discussion where I had to detail the design of classes, interfaces, attributes, and methods, with a specific constraint of not using databases or complex data structures. I also delved into UI aspects, including API design, data models, method invocations, and how data structures would be manipulated in response to API calls. Following this, I tackled a System Design problem: designing a URL shortener with features like custom URLs, auto-generated URLs, full CRUD functionality, hit frequency statistics, and an auto-cleanup mechanism for unused URLs.
Interview Questions (4)
Given an array nums, for each nums[i] find out how many numbers in the array are smaller than it. That is, for each nums[i] you have to count the number of valid j's such that j != i and nums[j] < nums[i].
Input: [8,1,2,2,3]
Output: [4,0,1,1,3]
A node X is said to be special if in the path from root to X there are no nodes with a value greater than X. Return the number of valid special nodes in the tree.
Example:
3
/ \
1 4
/ /
3 1 5I was asked to discuss Low-Level Design principles. This included detailing the design of classes, interfaces, attributes, and methods, with the constraint of not using databases or advanced data structures. Additionally, I needed to explain UI interaction, covering what kind of APIs, data models, and methods APIs would invoke, and how data structures would be manipulated upon API calls.
I was asked to design a URL shortener system. The requirements included:
- Support for custom user-defined short URLs (e.g.,
www.google.com/news/date/123/xcxcxcxcmapping totiny/news). - Support for auto-generated short URLs (e.g.,
www.dfssssmapping tomy/ab123). - Description of how to implement add, update, and delete functionality.
- Tracking statistics, specifically the frequency of how many times a URL was hit.
- An auto-cleanup mechanism for unused URLs.