Question

Explain what the following program does. How many times is the bne instruction executed? Assuming that the addi instruction is at address 4000 (decimal), show the addresses of all the instructions. Show the machine language representation of the j L2 instruction (machine language means showing the 32 bits that represent the instruction, but here it is sufficient to type of the instruction, the fields of the instruction and the value of each field decimal).

Answer 1

L5 simply means Level 5. Levels and the actual job titles they correspond to will vary by job family.

For example, an entry level software engineer who just graduated with a BSCS would be hired as a Software Engineer II (which is L3), an entry level Recruiting Coordinator I is L2, and the lowest rung on the Engineering Management ladder is Engineering Manager I (which is L5).

The number of rungs on ladders also varies by role/job family. The Software Engineering ladder runs from L2 (SWE II) to L10 (Google Fellow)*, but the Recruiter job ladder only runs from L2 (Recruiting Specialist I) to L7 (Principal Recruiter). And the parallel Engineering Management ladder runs from L5 (Eng Manager I) to L10 (VP).

* Some people refer to Senior Google Fellow as being L11, but iirc, that's technically incorrect — Senior Google Fellow (and other Senior Vice President level roles) don't actually fall on the regular job ladders. Likewise, intern positions also fall outside of the regular job ladders as well.

L5 means senior software developer. At Google, most employees will never reach above L5 simply because that's the highest level you can reach w/o leading a significant and complicated project. In other companies, senior just indicates you have been there longer than some people.

Google has an internal document that is aptly titled "Eng Ladder" which details the responsibilities and expectations from each level. This is frequently used in assessing whether someone should be promoted.

If you are curious about the rest:
L6 - Staff Software Developer
L7 - Senior Staff SD
L8 - Principal SD (This is another title that means something very different at Google)
L9 - Distinguished SD
L10 - Fellow
L11 - Senior Fellow

You can reach up to L8 if your group grows big enough. However, L9 and above is reserved for people who become industry experts on certain areas.