Palo Alto Networks Senior Staff Engineer Mock Interview
Master 30 Senior Staff Engineer interview questions covering distributed systems, security architecture, and technical leadership at Palo Alto Networks.
Question 18 of 30
What are the parameters you consider when creating data tables?
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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
While this seems like a pretty straightforward question, the Palo Alto Networks interviewer expects you to respond with clarifying questions. Without knowing the type of software you are developing or the system it will use, it is difficult to determine what the data tables will look like. You should inquire about the purpose of the software, how it will be used, and the type of data it will manage. Once you know this, you can respond appropriately to the parameters you would consider when designing the data tables. You can also give an example of a data table you previously designed to demonstrate your ability to do this.
William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.
"To respond to this question, I will need to know what the application is, how it will be used, and the type of data it will manage. Without this information, I would just be guessing and would not design the data tables appropriately. I can give you an example of a data table I recently designed for a retail application. I created a table for each SKU, its class of product, the department in which it was sold, the vendor, and its price. Having these data tables within the point of sale application enabled us to track the inventory using each of these parameters to search or sort the data."
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