Tools, Frameworks & Implementation Proficiency Topics
Practical proficiency with industry-standard tools and frameworks including project management (Jira, Azure DevOps), productivity tools (Excel, spreadsheet analysis), development tools and environments, and framework setup. Focuses on hands-on tool expertise, configuration, best practices, and optimization rather than conceptual knowledge. Complements technical categories by addressing implementation tooling.
Full Stack Project Experience Overview
Be ready to discuss 2-3 significant projects where you owned features end-to-end. Clearly articulate the frontend technologies, backend services, databases, and your specific contributions. Highlight decisions that improved performance, scalability, or user experience.
Backend Frameworks and Ecosystem
Covers fundamentals of backend technology stacks and the surrounding ecosystem. Topics include common server side frameworks and stacks such as Node js with Express, Python with Django or Flask, and Java with Spring, and key concepts such as routing, middleware, request handling, project and folder structure, dependency management, object relational mapping usage, application configuration, error handling, testing and debugging strategies, security basics, deployment considerations, and how frameworks fit into overall system architecture and service boundaries.
React Functional Components and Hooks
Focuses on the functional component model and React hooks API. Topics include using state with useState, managing side effects and lifecycle with useEffect including dependency arrays and cleanup, avoiding common pitfalls such as stale closures and infinite loops, memoization and performance patterns with useMemo and useCallback, state management with useReducer, context consumption with useContext, building and testing custom hooks, rules of hooks, and common patterns for data fetching, event handling, and component local state. Emphasis spans from junior correct usage to advanced patterns and debugging of hooks.
Frontend Framework Fundamentals
Core knowledge of modern frontend frameworks including component architecture and composition, functional and class based components, props and state management, and separation of concerns. Understanding of lifecycle methods and hooks and when to use different patterns. Ability to implement conditional rendering, lists and keys, controlled and uncontrolled forms, and component communication patterns. Familiarity with local and global state management approaches, basic routing concepts, component testing, and common performance optimization techniques such as memoization and virtualization. Awareness of how frameworks such as React, Vue, and Angular differ from vanilla JavaScript and from each other, and ability to build components that follow framework best practices.
Technology Stack Knowledge
Assess a candidate's practical and conceptual understanding of technology stacks, including major programming languages, application frameworks, databases, infrastructure, and supporting tools. Candidates should be able to explain common use cases and trade offs for languages such as Python, Java, Go, Rust, C plus plus, and JavaScript, including differences between compiled and interpreted languages, static and dynamic type systems, and performance characteristics. They should discuss application frameworks and libraries for frontend and backend development, common web stacks, service architectures such as monoliths and microservices, and application programming interfaces. Evaluate understanding of data storage options and trade offs between relational and non relational databases and the role of structured query language. Candidates should be familiar with cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure, infrastructure components including containerization and orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes, and development workflows including version control, continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines, testing frameworks, automation, and infrastructure as code. Assess operational concerns such as logging, monitoring and observability, deployment strategies, scalability, reliability, fault tolerance, security considerations, and common failure modes and mitigations. Interviewers may probe both awareness of specific tools and the candidate's depth of hands on experience, ability to justify technology choices by evaluating trade offs, constraints, and risk, and willingness and ability to learn and evaluate new technologies rather than claiming mastery of everything.
TypeScript in React
Applying TypeScript to React applications to improve correctness and maintainability. Topics include typing component props and state, designing generic and reusable components, typing callbacks and custom hooks, using utility types and discriminated unions for robust domain models, handling nullable and asynchronous data, and strategies for incremental migration. Candidates should discuss trade offs of strict typing, how types surface regressions, and patterns for integrating third party libraries into a typed code base.
React Fundamentals (or Vue/Angular depending on expertise)
Deep understanding of component architecture, hooks (useState, useEffect, useContext, useReducer, custom hooks), lifecycle methods, rendering optimization, and component composition patterns. Knowledge of controlled vs uncontrolled components, prop drilling vs context API, and when to use each pattern.
Debugging and Developer Tools
Proficiency using developer tooling and systematic debugging approaches to find and fix defects across client and server code. Topics include using browser developer tools such as the element inspector, console, network panel, and performance profiler; setting breakpoints and stepping through JavaScript code; reading and interpreting error messages and stack traces; using logging and log aggregation to trace server side issues; using debugger statements and watch expressions; reproducing bugs reliably and minimizing test cases; and applying performance profiling and memory analysis to diagnose regressions. Interviewers assess the candidate's process for isolating root cause, choosing appropriate tools, and validating fixes.
Nextjs and TypeScript
Using Nextjs together with TypeScript to build full stack web applications, including server side rendering, static site generation, incremental static regeneration, API routes and serverless functions, routing and data fetching strategies, and sharing types between frontend and backend. Candidates should discuss typing components and hooks, choosing rendering strategies for performance and search engine optimization, authentication and session patterns in Nextjs, separation of client and server responsibilities, form handling, testing approaches, and deployment considerations for Nextjs applications.