Explain continuous batching vs static batching for LLM serving.
Why the batch is a pool of decode slots, not a bus that waits until it's full. The mental-model shift behind every modern serving stack, and the scheduling tradeoffs interviewers push on next.
Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Forward Deployed Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.
Why the batch is a pool of decode slots, not a bus that waits until it's full. The mental-model shift behind every modern serving stack, and the scheduling tradeoffs interviewers push on next.
Lead with where the obvious approach breaks, because that is the judgment they are screening for — most candidates jump straight to the happy path and lose the room.
Then walk the failure back through the pipeline in order, naming the one metric the customer's exec sponsor actually cares about before you propose the fix.
