Observability Injection: Distributed Tracing via Sidecars
Overview
What this challenge is about.
Observability Injection: Distributed Tracing via Sidecars. Intermediate challenge in code. Writing production code that solves real engineering problems, ear...
The Brief
What you'll do, and what you'll demonstrate.
Use service-mesh-injected sidecars to deliver baseline distributed tracing across 26 services without code changes, and identify the 6 services that warrant in-process span instrumentation.
This is not a coding exercise. It is the work a software engineer does between a Jira ticket and a merged PR. That distinction matters to every hiring manager who has seen candidates solve LeetCode problems and none who have shipped production code under real constraints.
When you finish, you will have something most graduates do not: a real-world deliverable, verified by Ewance, that you can show to a hiring manager and say "I did this. Here is the proof."
Earning criteria — what you'll demonstrate
- Configure Envoy + Istio to emit OpenTelemetry-compatible spans
- Reason about W3C tracecontext propagation through mixed-stack services
- Decide where in-process spans add value beyond sidecar-injected spans
- Plan observability investment based on change frequency, not service count
Program Fit
Where this fits in your program.
Sharpens the same skills your degree expects you to demonstrate.
Aligned coursework coming soon.
Skills
Skills you'll demonstrate.
Each one shows up on your verified credential.
- Distributed Tracing
Apply distributed tracing to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Opentelemetry
Apply opentelemetry to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Envoy
Apply envoy to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Service Mesh
Apply service mesh to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Observability
Apply observability to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Istio
Apply istio to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
Careers
Career paths this challenge builds toward
Completing this challenge demonstrates skills that transfer directly to these roles: