A presentation at SoCal ReactJS in in Venice, Los Angeles, CA, USA by Trent Willis
Open Connect
Actually Netflix
BUILDING INTERNAL TOOLS AT
Trent Willis Senior UI Engineer Insight Engineering @trentmwillis
Insight Engineering @trentmwillis
Insight Engineering “Enable real-time operational insights for Netflix Engineers” @trentmwillis
Insight Engineering “Enable real-time operational insights for Netflix Engineers” @trentmwillis
Insight Engineering “Enable real-time operational insights for Netflix Engineers” @trentmwillis
Not always “glamorous” @trentmwillis
Not always “glamorous”, but rewarding and important @trentmwillis
Improve the day-to-day experience for others @trentmwillis
Improve the day-to-day experience for your co-workers @trentmwillis
Build a foundation for others to succeed @trentmwillis
Build a foundation for your company to succeed @trentmwillis
Create something different (The world of Web Development is vast) @trentmwillis
Lumen bit.ly/netflix-lumen @trentmwillis
Imagine you’re watching Netflix… @trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
Meanwhile in the Netflix cloud… @trentmwillis
@trentmwillis (*image above is not how it actually happens…)
@trentmwillis (*also not how it actually happens…)
@trentmwillis (*we also do not employ Pokémon)
@trentmwillis
Don’t describe your work by jargon. Describe it by the value it brings. @trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
How do we support any data source? @trentmwillis
Web Workers @trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
Weaving Webs of Workers noti.st/trentmwillis/RxTcdy/weaving-webs-of-workers @trentmwillis
How do we visualize any data? @trentmwillis
Mapper functions @trentmwillis
evil @trentmwillis
eval @trentmwillis
Address your user’s needs and fun challenges will abound @trentmwillis
How do internal projects change the day-to-day job? @trentmwillis
You work directly with customers. (For better or worse.) @trentmwillis
Development → Feedback (yay!) @trentmwillis
Development ← Feedback (meh) @trentmwillis
Your users are less technologically diverse. @trentmwillis
Support policies are different. More limited. @trentmwillis
Freedom! @trentmwillis
Freedom? @trentmwillis
The technologies don’t really change. @trentmwillis
The technologies don’t really change. The people do. @trentmwillis
How do you measure the success of internal products? @trentmwillis
Success is different. @trentmwillis
Functionality > Aesthetics @trentmwillis
Your customers don’t necessarily have choices. @trentmwillis
Your customers don’t necessarily have choices, but they have needs. @trentmwillis
Stability & Reliability > New Features @trentmwillis
Not impacting existing workflows is (usually) more important than enabling new workflows @trentmwillis
Customer Satisfaction > Growth @trentmwillis
Successful internal products grow. @trentmwillis
Honestly, the differences aren’t that big. @trentmwillis
Consider the possibilities. @trentmwillis
Ask about internal things. @trentmwillis
@trentmwillis
@trentmwillis P.S. Tuca & Bertie is 🔥
Thank you! Any questions? @trentmwillis P.S. My team is hiring! jobs.netflix.com/jobs/869498
Many millions of people around the world are familiar with Netflix’s feature-rich and reliable video streaming applications, but most of them probably don’t realize that underneath that shiny exterior lies a complicated world of internal tools and applications. And, if all goes well, they will never need to know it exists.
In this talk, we’re going to take a peek into this world. We’ll learn about a few of the internal products that keep Netflix running smoothly, see what life is like for engineers working on those products, and understand the pros and cons of working on internal products instead of customer facing products.
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
for free. You
can too.