Hey friend, take a deep breath
I get it - that sinking feeling when you realize you know the basics but can't explain the "how" part. Been there, felt that panic.
Here's what actually happens in scaling interviews:
Interviewers don't expect you to build rollups from scratch. They want to see if you can think through problems step by step.
Simple way to tackle rollup questions:
"Rollups work like this - imagine you're doing 100 math problems. Instead of showing your teacher each answer one by one, you bundle them all together and show the final result. That's what rollups do with transactions."
For the "real world" part that is making you nervous:
Just say: "In real projects, you pick based on what matters most. Need fast withdrawals? Use ZK rollups but pay more gas. Okay with waiting a week? Use optimistic rollups and save money. Need everything super fast? Maybe wait for sharding but it's still being built."
Your horror story example:
"I read about how CryptoKitties broke Ethereum because too many people wanted to buy digital cats at once. That's why we need scaling - the network gets clogged when popular apps launch."
When you feel stuck, say this:
"I'm still learning the implementation details, but I understand the main trade-offs. Would you mind if I walk through my thinking process instead?"
Remember:
Good interviewers want to help you succeed. They'd rather see you think out loud than memorize perfect answers.
You already know more than you think. The fact that you understand gas fees and network congestion puts you ahead of many candidates.
One week is plenty of time to get comfortable with this stuff.
You've got this. Just focus on understanding the big picture, not every technical detail.
