THN Interview Prep

Networking, caching & HTTP for UIs

Core details

ConcernKey ideas
Critical pathLCP hero discovery: priority hints, preload only with measurable proof
Versioningcontent-hashed filenames → long immutable cache safely
HTML policyrarely long immutable—stale UX + personalization traps
Cache-Controlmax-age, s-maxage, stale-while-revalidate semantics verbally precise
ETag / 304bandwidth win + correctness when validators align
Prefetch/prerenderspeculate only with UX intent—not blanket autopilot firing

Discuss CDN surrogate key purging narratives when dynamic HTML edge cached dangerously—mention ban paths explicitly.

Understanding

Most win comes from changing what ships and in what order, not from squeezing bits. Hash-versioned static assets can safely live at long TTLs; HTML and personalized responses almost never should without strict keying and purge discipline. GET APIs cached for “speed” can lie to the UI about business truth—pair caches with explicit freshness contracts and user-visible cues when data may be stale.

Senior understanding

Probe angleCredibility artifact
“Prove regression”Network waterfall screenshot before/after with identical throttle profile
“Who owns keys?”cross-team SLA on purge events / surrogate invalidation choreography
“Security posture”zero mixed-content; strict transport headers alignment awareness

Third-party weight: escalate marketing injectables through risk review—SLO-aware loading, deferred consent-aware activation, kill switches—not “marketing exception” culture.

Diagram

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See also

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