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Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

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Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#31

Post by jacobsimon »

linguae wrote: post #23
reddit_clone wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing this. What exactly does 'leetcode grind' mean? I take it you solve puzzles by writing code. How does it help with job interviews really?

“Leetcode grind” means solving Leetcode problems. Interviewing for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days require doing well on Leetcode-style coding exercises where one has a limited amount of time to solve a problem. What makes software engineering interviews a grind these days is that many employers don’t care about your thinking process; they want an optimal solution to the problem withi…

Hey I just want to add, in addition to your advice here, there are other important aspects to interviewing beyond performance on Leetcode questions. In other words, it's sometimes necessary, but not sufficient. Most senior jobs require system design interviews, conversations about leadership, and more.

I think "grinding" on Leetcode also entails learning and practicing a lot of irrelevant topics for many jobs, but there are newer resources out there that help you focus on what you need to know for specific roles. I don't like to plug my own company, but Exponent[1] is designed to help with this more 'well-rounded' interview prep for different types of engineering paths, and we also have a mock interview feature that helps you iron out your communication skills with other candidates.

1. https://www.tryexponent.com

Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#32

Post by sovnwnt »

linguae wrote: post #23
reddit_clone wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing this. What exactly does 'leetcode grind' mean? I take it you solve puzzles by writing code. How does it help with job interviews really?

“Leetcode grind” means solving Leetcode problems. Interviewing for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days require doing well on Leetcode-style coding exercises where one has a limited amount of time to solve a problem. What makes software engineering interviews a grind these days is that many employers don’t care about your thinking process; they want an optimal solution to the problem withi…

> for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days

Do US most companies outside of Silicon Valley not use leetcode style interviews? Every single software interview I've done in Canada had at least one round of leetcode programming exams.

Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#33

Post by daemonologist »

sovnwnt wrote: post #32
linguae wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Leetcode grind” means solving Leetcode problems. Interviewing for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days require doing well on Leetcode-style coding exercises where one has a limited amount of time to solve a problem. What makes software engineering interviews a grind these days is that many employers don’t care about your thinking process; they want an optimal solution to the problem withi…

> for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days Do US most companies outside of Silicon Valley not use leetcode style interviews? Every single software interview I've done in Canada had at least one round of leetcode programming exams.

I think outside of silicon valley (and companies emulating that culture), US companies still give coding problems but they're usually not leetcode style, more of just an implementation problem, if that makes sense. Instead of checking that you have some obscure algorithm memorized they simply want to see you code a bit.

Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#35

Post by madamelic »

mrg3_2013 wrote: post #25

I continue to get puzzled with leetcode type things. Will coding exercises like this become obsolete someday or will the old guards continue to push for such things to be used during interviews? Today coding Copilots can easily replace leetcode "winners"

It's a cyclical problem.

The people / companies using it to hire will tend to hire people who studied leetcode.

The companies that don't use leetcode / don't use it as a strong signal will continue not using it.

In my opinion, leetcode is a poor signal if used as a binary decision ("were they right or wrong?"). The more important thing is communication and how they worked through the problem. I've heard this multiple places and I absolutely agree: attitude over aptitude. You can teach knowledge, you can't teach attitude or ability to problem solve.

The companies that use them as a strong signal are the ones that will be absolutely demolished in engineering because they are on a fast track for a staff full of rote memorization rather than strong creative problem solving. They'll be handicapped when it comes to solving problems that aren't covered by leetcode because no one there bothered to learn it.

Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#36

Post by greymalik »

jacobsimon wrote: post #31
linguae wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Leetcode grind” means solving Leetcode problems. Interviewing for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days require doing well on Leetcode-style coding exercises where one has a limited amount of time to solve a problem. What makes software engineering interviews a grind these days is that many employers don’t care about your thinking process; they want an optimal solution to the problem withi…

Hey I just want to add, in addition to your advice here, there are other important aspects to interviewing beyond performance on Leetcode questions. In other words, it's sometimes necessary, but not sufficient. Most senior jobs require system design interviews, conversations about leadership, and more. I think "grinding" on Leetcode also entails learning and practicing a lot of irrelevant topics for many jobs, but th…

I would like to try exponent, but the only free "lessons" I see are the intros to each section. I want to see a real, representative sample of the content I'd get before I'm willing to open my wallet.

Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#39

Post by madamelic »

sovnwnt wrote: post #32
linguae wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Leetcode grind” means solving Leetcode problems. Interviewing for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days require doing well on Leetcode-style coding exercises where one has a limited amount of time to solve a problem. What makes software engineering interviews a grind these days is that many employers don’t care about your thinking process; they want an optimal solution to the problem withi…

> for many software engineering positions in Silicon Valley these days Do US most companies outside of Silicon Valley not use leetcode style interviews? Every single software interview I've done in Canada had at least one round of leetcode programming exams.

I've hardly dipped my toe in SV and have almost entirely worked in the Eastern half of the United States.

Leetcode questions do happen but typically they are guidelines for a further discussion rather than the entire signal. By that I mean, they are used to investigate problem solving, communication, and personality.

It tends to be the bigger places have more rote tests. One company posed the "If you were re-making Instagram, design me the ability to handle millions of page views over the span of an hour" or something like that. Apparently CDNs, caching, and load balancers wasn't the answer...

Never bothered to look it up because I spent what felt like an hour trying to figure out why this guy thought a CDN wasn't good enough and whether he was _trying_ to get a rise out of me.

What only made it funnier is this place had nothing to do with images.

Re: Show HN: I made a spaced repetition tool to master coding problems

#40

Post by dr_dshiv »

madamelic wrote: post #35
mrg3_2013 wrote: post #25

I continue to get puzzled with leetcode type things. Will coding exercises like this become obsolete someday or will the old guards continue to push for such things to be used during interviews? Today coding Copilots can easily replace leetcode "winners"

It's a cyclical problem. The people / companies using it to hire will tend to hire people who studied leetcode. The companies that don't use leetcode / don't use it as a strong signal will continue not using it. In my opinion, leetcode is a poor signal if used as a binary decision ("were they right or wrong?"). The more important thing is communication and how they worked through the problem. I've heard this multiple…

> I've heard this multiple places and I absolutely agree: attitude over aptitude. You can teach knowledge, you can't teach attitude or ability to problem solve.

Seems like society should try to figure this out.. if attitude is so important, why can’t we cultivate it systematically?

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