OpenAI strikes back at DeepSeek

Welcome back!

We are going to solve one of the most popular Binary Tree problems in this week’s coding challenge. Every big tech company has asked it at some point. Let’s do this.

Today we will cover:

• Maximum Depth of Binary Tree

• Monolithic vs Microservices Architecture

Read time: under 4 minutes

CODING CHALLENGE

Maximum Depth of Binary Tree

Given the root of a binary tree, return its maximum depth.

A binary tree's maximum depth is the number of nodes along the longest path from the root node down to the farthest leaf node.

Example 1:

Input: root = [3,9,20,null,null,15,7]
Output: 3

Example 2:

Input: root = [1,null,2]
Output: 2

Solve the problem here before reading the solution.

PRESENTED BY HUBSPOT

Want to get the most out of ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a superpower if you know how to use it correctly.

Discover how HubSpot's guide to AI can elevate both your productivity and creativity to get more things done.

Learn to automate tasks, enhance decision-making, and foster innovation with the power of AI.

Download the free guide with actionable prompts and tips to make your work more productive.

SOLUTION

To solve this problem, we can use a recursive approach. For each node, we calculate the maximum depth of its left and right subtrees, and then return the larger value plus 1 (to account for the current node).

If we reach a null node, we return 0 as the depth. This forms our base case for the recursion.

The time complexity of this solution is O(n), where n is the number of nodes in the binary tree, as we need to visit each node exactly once.

SYSTEM DESIGN

Monolithic vs Microservices Architecture

As applications grow larger and more complex, the traditional monolithic architecture can become difficult to maintain and scale. This is where microservices architecture comes in as an alternative approach.

In a monolithic architecture, the entire application is built as a single unit. All features and functionality are packaged together in one codebase. This makes it simple to develop and deploy initially. You can easily make changes, test the whole application, and deploy everything at once.

But monolithic applications have drawbacks. When the codebase grows too large, it becomes harder for developers to understand the entire system. Making changes becomes risky because a small update in one part could break something elsewhere. Scaling is also inefficient because you have to scale the entire application even if only one feature needs more resources.

Microservices architecture takes a different approach by splitting the application into smaller, independent services. Each service handles a specific business function and can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently. For example, in an e-commerce application, you might have separate services for user accounts, product catalog, shopping cart, and payment processing.

This independence makes microservices more flexible. Teams can work on different services without interfering with each other. If the payment service needs more computing power, you can scale just that service instead of the entire application. You can also use different technologies for different services based on what works best for each function.

But microservices come with their own challenges. Managing communication between services is complex and can introduce network latency. Debugging becomes harder because a single user request might involve multiple services. You also need robust monitoring and logging to track what's happening across all services.

Here's a comparison of both approaches:

FEATURED COURSES

5 Courses of the Week

✅ IBM Data Science Professional Certificate: Learn data science skills using Python, SQL, and machine learning tools to build a professional portfolio in 4 months.

✅ Microsoft Back-End Developer Professional Certificate: Master server-side programming with .NET, C#, and Azure Cloud, developing scalable applications using AI tools.

✅ Complete Guide to TensorFlow for Deep Learning with Python: Comprehensive TensorFlow course covering neural networks, machine learning, and deep learning techniques for Python students.

✅ Automate the Boring Stuff with Python Programming: Learn Python to automate office tasks like web scraping, PDF parsing, email automation, and boost your productivity.

✅ R Programming A-Z™: R For Data Science With Real Exercises!: Step-by-step R programming course with hands-on exercises, designed for beginners to learn data science skills practically.

THE RUNDOWN? 

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 1,000,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.

Sign up to start learning.

NEWS

This Week in the Tech World

OpenAI Launches 'Deep Research': ChatGPT is introducing a new feature that enables multi-step internet research for professionals and everyday users. The tool can generate comprehensive reports within 5 to 30 minutes by searching, interpreting, and consolidating data from multiple sources.

Microsoft Performance Layoffs: Microsoft has begun terminating employees who do not meet minimum performance standards, with some workers dismissed immediately and without severance. These performance-based dismissals are part of a broader tech industry trend of workforce restructuring, affecting employees across various levels and divisions.

Google Offers Voluntary Buyouts: Google is providing voluntary exit packages to employees in its Platforms and Devices unit, which includes over 25,000 workers across Android, Chrome, and hardware divisions. The voluntary program allows U.S.-based employees to leave with a severance package, signaling potential upcoming workforce reductions as the company prioritizes artificial intelligence investments.

Reid Hoffman Enters Health Tech: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman launched Manas AI, a startup focused on accelerating drug discovery through artificial intelligence. The company aims to reduce the traditionally lengthy drug development process from over a decade to just a few years, initially targeting aggressive cancer treatments.

Trump Launches Sovereign Wealth Fund: President Trump signed an executive order establishing a government-run fund with multiple potential uses. The fund could potentially buy TikTok, develop infrastructure, and help the U.S. extend its economic influence internationally.

WHAT'S NEW IN AI?

Writer RAG tool: build production-ready RAG apps in minutes

RAG in just a few lines of code? We’ve launched a predefined RAG tool on our developer platform, making it easy to bring your data into a Knowledge Graph and interact with it with AI. With a single API call, writer LLMs will intelligently call the RAG tool to chat with your data.

Integrated into Writer’s full-stack platform, it eliminates the need for complex vendor RAG setups, making it quick to build scalable, highly accurate AI workflows just by passing a graph ID of your data as a parameter to your RAG tool.

Learn more about our production ready RAG tooling here.

BONUS

Just for laughs 😏

HELP US

👋 Hi there! We are on a mission to provide as much value as possible for free. If you want this newsletter to remain free, please help us grow by referring your friends:

📌 Share your referral link on LinkedIn or directly with your friends.
📌 Check your referrals status here.

YOUR FEEDBACK

Until next time, take care! 🚀

Cheers,

Sahil + Sarra