Faisal Yakubu

08/05/2025

Y’all remember sometime last year when I said QA testing was good for people who hate coding? 😅 I’d like to formally apologize… things have changed. Now they’re writing scripts , debugging, automating and crying in Selenium 😩😂

08/03/2025

Printing Colored Output in Python 🌈

The example below uses the colorama library to add color to terminal output.
It’s perfect for making logs, prompts, or CLI applications more readable, organized, and fun! 🤩

08/03/2025

08/01/2025

🎯 SDE Roadmap — The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Software Development Engineer

Let’s break it down step-by-step 👇

1️⃣ Master a Programming Language (Start Here)

📌 Choose 1 language and go deep — recommended: Java, Python, C++, or JavaScript

Learn:
Variables, loops, functions
OOP (Encapsulation, Inheritance, Polymorphism)
Recursion, Exception handling
File I/O

Goal: Be able to build basic apps, solve problems with confidence.

2️⃣ Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA)

📌 Most important skill for SDE interviews!

Learn:
Arrays, Strings, Linked Lists
Stacks, Queues, HashMaps
Trees, Graphs, Heaps
Searching, Sorting, Recursion
Dynamic Programming, Greedy, Sliding Window, Two Pointers

Practice:
LeetCode, GFG, CodeStudio, InterviewBit

Goal: 300+ quality problems + strong patterns = confidence in interviews.

3️⃣ Object-Oriented Design & System Design Basics

Learn how to structure your code like an engineer.

Understand:
Classes & Objects, SOLID Principles
Low-level design (e.g., Parking Lot, Tic Tac Toe)
High-level design (e.g., URL Shortener, Rate Limiter)

Resources: "Grokking the System Design Interview", Excalidraw, Design Gurus

4️⃣ Build Projects — Real-World Skills

📌 Projects help showcase your skills beyond DSA.

Build:
To-Do App (Frontend + Backend)
REST APIs using Node/Python/Java
E-commerce System (Cart, Auth, Payment)
Blogging System with Database
Deploy on Vercel, Netlify, Render, or Railway

Bonus: Add Git, CI/CD, Testing, and Docker where possible.

5️⃣ Master Core CS Subjects (Ask in Interviews)

Key topics:

OS: Process, Threads, Deadlock, Scheduling
DBMS: SQL, Joins, Normalization, Transactions
CN: HTTP, TCP/IP, DNS, Load Balancing
OOP: Principles, Design Patterns

Goal: Be ready for theory rounds at MAANG/startups.

6️⃣ Competitive Programming (Optional but Great)

📌 CP sharpens your problem-solving speed.
Practice on:
Codeforces, AtCoder, Leetcode Weekly
Participate in contests (companies notice this!)

7️⃣ Resume + GitHub + LinkedIn Optimization

📌 Build a 1-page resume highlighting:
Projects with tech stack, impact, links
DSA scores (LeetCode/CodeChef)
Internships or open-source contributions

GitHub: Make repos clean, with README & demo
LinkedIn: Add SDE keyword, showcase projects, write weekly posts

8️⃣ Mock Interviews & Soft Skills

📌 Practice behavioral & HR rounds too.

Prepare:
Tell me about yourself
STAR method for behavioral answers
Why this company? Why this role?

Use Pramp, Exercism, or peer mocks via LinkedIn

9️⃣ Apply, Apply, Apply!

🎯 Target:

Product Companies
Fintech/AI startups
Remote & Internships (early-stage ones are gold!)

Tip: Track your applications using Google Sheets or Notion.

🔖 Save this for your SDE prep journey

📝 Credits: Suraj Dubey

07/31/2025

I agree 😊
Effective interviews should mirror real-world scenarios. It’s not about having all the answers, but about how you approach and solve problems using the tools and resources available.

What do you think?🤔

07/29/2025

Good News 😊

American company Google has launched its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Community Center in Accra, Ghana, backed by a $37 million investment to accelerate AI development across Africa. This initiative will support local research, startups in health and education, and projects like crop monitoring and adapting technology for African languages. Our Chargé d’Affaires Rolf Olson joined and Ghana’s Minister for Communication, Digital Technology & Innovations Hon. Samuel Nartey George to celebrate this milestone in U.S.-Africa collaboration. The United States government is committed to partnering with industry to deliver secure, full-stack AI export packages – including hardware, models, software, applications, and standards – to America’s friends and allies around the world.

Photo credit: Google in Africa.

07/28/2025

“I've been in frontend engineering for 5+ years and failed more interviews than I care to admit....

But let me tell you something from my failures.

𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮:
↳ Understand JavaScript fundamentals deeply.
↳ Know how algorithms and data structures work.
↳ Can write clean, readable, and maintainable code.
↳ Understand how databases and APIs function.
↳ Know how to debug effectively and systematically.
↳ Can work with version control and collaborate in teams.
↳ Understand web performance and security basics.

You definitely do not need a bootcamp promising a guaranteed job in 12 weeks.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬:
↳ Master the fundamentals (variables, functions, loops, objects).
↳ Build real projects that solve actual problems.
↳ Learn how to explain your code in interviews.
↳ Focus on skills that hiring managers actually care about.
↳ Learn to solve problems on a whiteboard
↳ Master debugging, spend time intentionally breaking your code and fixing it. ↳ Contribute to 2-3 open source projects

The interviews I failed were never about not knowing the latest framework.

They were about not understanding how to think through problems.

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.”

🖊️ Mojisola Alegbe ( linkedin.com/in/mojisola-alegbe )
𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫.

07/25/2025

If you’re not good at summarizing, some IT jobs will humble you real quick.
You can spend days or even weeks on a task, only for your supervisor to ask you to present it in just 3 to 5 minutes — sometimes even 30 seconds to a minute.😅😂

07/24/2025

A high school diploma (WASSCE equivalent) can open doors to many good job opportunities in Canada 🇨🇦… but in Ghana 🇬🇭, its main purpose seems to be just to determine whether you qualify to enter a university 😅. After that, it’s almost like it disappears from your life completely.

07/22/2025

“The most underrated skill in Software Engineering isn't technical.

It's not about knowing multiple programming languages.
It's not about solving complex algorithms.
It's not even about system design.

It's about knowing when to say "I don't know".

Junior engineers often feel pressured to have all the answers. They'll spend hours stuck on a problem, afraid to ask for help.

Senior engineers understand that saying "I don't know" is not a weakness.

It's an opportunity to learn from others. It's a way to avoid costly mistakes.

I learned this the hard way at Amazon.

Early in my career, I was too proud to ask for help. I once spent 2 days debugging an issue that my senior colleague solved in 15 minutes.

The goal isn't to know everything. The goal is to know how to find the answers when you need them.

Your expertise isn't measured by what you know. It's measured by how you handle what you don't know.”

~ Sahil Gaba,
Software Engineer @ Google

07/21/2025

No matter how confused you are in life, never start learning JavaScript and Java at the same time.
That’s playing mental hide and seek with yourself. 🤭🧘🏽‍♂️

07/21/2025

For me to do PhD in Computer Science die3 Unless God personally guarantees me the position of Head of IT in Paradise , I’m not touching that stress! 😩😂