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Cloudflare·Software Engineer·Technical Phone Screen·Intermediate

Intermediate
Jul 2026

Summary

Interviewed for a software engineer role at Cloudflare. The technical screen touched on engineering practices, specifically around code review, which sounds routine until you realize they want to know if you actually think about it or just rubber-stamp PRs.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Have you done code reviews before, and if so, how do you approach them?

Technical Trade-offsAdaptability & Ambiguity
Author's notes

Seemed like a warmup question but the follow-up is where it gets real.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by affirming your experience with code reviews, then describe your approach as a balance between technical rigor and team collaboration. Emphasize how you tailor feedback to the context—whether it's a critical production fix or a learning opportunity for a junior engineer—and how you foster a positive review culture.

Pro tip: Frame code reviews as a two-way learning process: you not only catch issues but also learn from others' approaches. Mention that you sometimes ask questions instead of giving direct commands to encourage critical thinking.

1. Clarify the purpose

Explain that the goal of code review is to improve code quality, share knowledge, and catch bugs early—not to criticize the author.

2. Prioritize feedback

Focus on correctness, security, and maintainability first; then style and minor improvements. Use labels like 'nit' for non-blocking suggestions.

3. Be constructive and specific

Offer concrete suggestions and explain the 'why' behind your comments. Ask questions to understand the author's reasoning before assuming mistakes.

4. Adapt to context

Adjust your review depth based on urgency, author experience, and code criticality. For hotfixes, focus on the fix; for new features, consider design and tests.

5. Follow up and learn

Ensure your feedback is addressed, and reflect on what you learned from the review to improve your own code.

Key Points to Mention

  • Use of automated tools (linters, static analysis) to catch trivial issues before human review.
  • Importance of reviewing small, incremental changes rather than large batches.
  • Balancing speed and thoroughness, especially in a fast-paced environment like Cloudflare.
  • Creating a safe environment where authors feel comfortable defending their choices.
  • Learning from code reviews to stay updated with best practices and new technologies.
  • Handling disagreements: escalate to team discussion or tech lead if consensus can't be reached.

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.