Career Advice for Junior Developers: Lessons from Alipay Security Architect Li Junkui

Li Junkui, who joined Alipay as a campus recruit and rose over 11 years to become a core security architect, has contributed to the risk control platform, helped build China’s first cloud‑based commercial bank, and led breakthroughs during major events like Double 11.

He stresses that newcomers should pass three crucial tests, the first being early exposure to code on their first day, which builds confidence and a sense of purpose.

Growth comes primarily through project experience; working on real projects sharpens coding skills and deepens system understanding.

He categorizes Alipay’s code into three types: well‑designed code that is easy to grasp, core system code, and code whose configuration is separated, which requires combined code‑and‑config analysis.

Code review is viewed as an ongoing process of reading both good and bad code to learn design principles and avoid pitfalls.

He advocates “code archaeology” – digging into legacy systems and documentation to comprehend how existing code operates, noting that superficial reviews of diagrams often miss critical details.

Continuous polishing involves practical exercises such as reading books on design, writing and reviewing unit tests, and studying frameworks like SOFA to grasp architectural fundamentals.

His concrete recommendations for junior engineers are: (1) read lots of code to develop code sensitivity; (2) write code regularly and reflect on past implementations; (3) prioritize thoughtful design before coding; and (4) cultivate a habit of reading foundational books to build systematic knowledge.