Ask the Interns: Pearl Ruparel

Pearl Ruparel is an engineering intern on the QA Performance team in Redwood City, Calif. Originally from Atlanta, she is currently a grad student at Georgia Institute of Technology, studying Computer Science. Read about what a day in the life of a Delphix intern looks like.

Pictured left to right: Ann Togasaki, Sonam Kindy, Claire McManus, Brandon Lim, Pearl Ruparel

What inspired you to join Delphix?

While looking for internships last year, Delphix’s unique product immediately caught my eye. I wanted to gain experience at a company with a start-up culture to get quality, hands-on experience, and Delphix seemed like the perfect choice. Throughout my interview process, I saw that the engineers here hold a deep passion for the product and developing top-notch software, which further motivated me to join the team.

What project was your internship focused on?

My project was focused on the storing of performance test data for easier querying and the visualization of the data in real-time to compare between nightly test runs and different releases. There were two primary components to this: the first was thoroughly researching time-series databases and the various visualization tools to determine the best and most compatible one for the purposes of this project. The second component included automating the process of storing and visualizing the test results for the different performance tests as well as setting up alerts to compare between previous releases and test runs. This capability allows for quick detection of any performance regressions without having to look through rows and rows of data.

What is the biggest challenge you faced and what did you learn from that experience?

Designing process. Since my project was open ended, it was both exciting and a little intimidating at first. However, learning about the different databases, trying out several ideas, and getting feedback from my mentor, manager, and team helped tremendously when designing the process and successfully implementing a database and visualization tool that synced well with the QA codebase.

What key skills and/or experience have you gained from your time at Delphix?

One of the key skills I have gained is code optimization. Working on a large codebase this past summer, I learned about good software development practices and code standardization. The feedback from code reviews helped me write more maintainable and understandable code. By the end of my internship, I was able to report and troubleshoot bugs and errors, review code, and consider other design challenges I had no exposure to before.

What’s one thing you wish you knew before starting this internship?

I wish I knew the importance of building relationships with people outside of my team. Initially, I was hesitant to reach out to other groups, but as I got more familiar with the product and the people, I found that everyone was super enthusiastic about sharing their experiences and knowledge. I was able to gain more insight into the company from different perspectives, and building those connections was one of the most important things that contributed to my learning and growth this summer.

What is one piece of advice you’d like to share with future interns?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and speak up! It’s always helpful to take the initiative, be proactive, and show your enthusiasm because it’s your job to make the most out of an internship experience.

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