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Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

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Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#221

Post by sheeshkebab »

I felt kind of like that first few years of my programming experience - I could hack all kinds of things on my own (in assembler, c, vb), but then someone asked me a basic datastructure or algo problem and I would blank out. Or asked me some stupid OOP problem... granted cs education back in the day wasn’t quite as formal but still.

Anyways, I’d say don’t get discouraged, learn new technologies, get out of your VB and .net and Microsoft cocoon and try new things. Maybe take a cs algo and distributed computing course and read up a book or two.

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#222

Post by sheeshkebab »

peterkelly wrote: post #160

Programming isn't the same thing as computer science, in the same way that writing isn't the same thing as journalism. Writing code is the easy part. It's tedious, requires lots of practical knowledge and troubleshooting skills, but is for the most part a straightforward exercise. Computer science is about the theory. It involves solving problems in the abstract, using (and in some cases creating) new conceptual tool…

A bunch of bull shit. Working on something truly groundbreaking requires none of it - it does however require super broad and deep knowledge of things outside of CS and ability to do things/program when you have an idea.

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#223

Post by austincheney »

pmiller2 wrote: post #102
scarface74 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nowhere near it - and neither do most other developers in the US.

Wasn’t trying to imply that’s the case. I’d love to move out of the Bay Area, just to get away from the whole “leetcode or GTFO” interview style, but the fact that there are so many opportunities around here keeps me here for the moment. Well, that and I can actually make enough money to pay my student loans while living somewhat comfortably and saving a little money. If I knew anyplace that had decent weather where…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plano,_Texas#Economy

That is just Plano. There are arguably more opportunities around each of North Dallas and Addison. The cost of living here is a third of the bay area and that isn't including the size of house. This is why California is bleeding 60k people a year to north Texas.

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#224

Post by aldanor »

peterkelly wrote: post #169
commandlinefan wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have yet to see a definition of what “invert a binary tree” even means.

It's when you swap the left and right branches of every node, e.g.: def invert(node): if node is not None: left = invert(node.left) right = invert(node.right) node.left = right node.right = left return node

Or simply

    node.left, node.right = map(invert, (node.right, node.left))

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#225

Post by damihl »

As some others have said: programming and CS are only somewhat related.

I like to compare it to some kind of manual work.

Programming is the tool. There's a hammer, or a screwdriver, or a saw. A good manual worker is able to use most of them. She may not have experience with all of them, but with enough experience she will learn to use new tools faster. The manual worker usually doesn't know much about creating those tools.

CS is like creating tools. You know what properties the tools should have, what materials they should use, etc. Most engineers are probably not as good in actually using them as the above mentioned worker.

So, being a good programmer does not mean being good at CS, and vice versa. What I'm saying is that it's totally fine. You'll learn (using the comparison again) what's the best material for a given tool for your current project as soon as you need it.

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#228

Post by eV6ahne6bei »

lmilcin wrote: post #201

Application developer is to computer scientist like car mechanic is to physicist. You've been conned into thinking Computer Science prepares for Software Engineering. That's not true. While you may need some Computer Science knowledge from time to time (and in fact there are some rare jobs heavy in Computer Science knowledge) almost all typical development and especially entry level software engineering jobs are all…

I'm happy I studied EE to work in Software/System Engineering. I always found it more helpful to think in terms of complex systems.

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#229

Post by huawhey »

peteforde wrote: post #179

Honestly, I'm appalled by some of the stories being shared in this thread; smug interview panels pressure-cooking candidates as they try to whiteboard obscure CS gotchas is a system perfect only for assholes and masochists. I've now run three tech companies and hired dozens of developers by having really intense, thoughtful conversations with them. I asked them to tell me war stories and encouraged them to share insi…

Bingo. The reality is many people have no idea how to interview, so they fall back on the only thing they know: test taking in school, and studying for the test.

You don't want to just ask them to tick boxes, because first off some'll lie to you, and second, the dunning-kruger cases will lie to themselves. Can they communicate? Can they solve unseen problems? Can they do so comprehensively and rigorously? Do they know how to maintain a project for many years?

An interview method that can't tell the passionate hackers from the posers and pencil pushers is worthless.

Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems

#230

Post by 0x445442 »

austincheney wrote: post #223
pmiller2 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn’t trying to imply that’s the case. I’d love to move out of the Bay Area, just to get away from the whole “leetcode or GTFO” interview style, but the fact that there are so many opportunities around here keeps me here for the moment. Well, that and I can actually make enough money to pay my student loans while living somewhat comfortably and saving a little money. If I knew anyplace that had decent weather where…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plano,_Texas#Economy That is just Plano. There are arguably more opportunities around each of North Dallas and Addison. The cost of living here is a third of the bay area and that isn't including the size of house. This is why California is bleeding 60k people a year to north Texas.

Yep, quite the burgeoning tech scene in Phoenix as well. Compared to California it's quite affordable if one can put up with four months of pretty extreme heat per year.
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