81–90 of 127 posts
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That’s the entire point of those kinds of interviews. It’s a strong filter for “recent graduate” while maintaining plausible deniability for ageism. It has a secondary effect of filtering for “willing to do unpaid overtime”.
Maybe it's just a way to provide a fair test that anyone with ability can pass with a little practice?
The most irritating thing with these competitive/algo stuff is that no matter how many times you master it - eventually you always forget it, because you don't need it on a daily (or more like yearly) basis in the real world.
The point is why people have to remember them ? Why not look them up when necessary ?
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I use Spaced Repition for chess openings as I can't refer to a book while playing a tournament game. That's not the case for programming.
A lot of software developers are asked to code solutions to difficult problems using nothing other than a whiteboard. Given that under normal circumstances we use a computer, IDE, and the internet, I can see why some might opt to use spaced repetition to ensure employment.
Seemed interesting up until the "Shortening code" section, that'd drive me mad.
Another reason for shortening code in programming contests (apart from being able to type and edit/iterate faster) is that it helps you avoid errors. For example, in the heat of the moment and under intense time pressure (e.g. you have finally figured out the algorithm to solve the problem, but you have only 13 minutes left to implement it or whatever), it's easy to write code like this: for (int i = 0; i instead of…
And I don't mean to say the whole thing is bunk. I found some really good info farther into the book, especially about algorithms, which I think will help towards interviewing candidates.
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I think its more of aptitude test in a domain common to all programmers.
Yeah right. Tell me the last time you built your own red-black tree in real actual code at work. Or did a sort by any other means than tacking “order by” on the end of a query. They are a test of how recently you crammed for your CS finals, that’s all.
As is, it's more like advertising for python, then surprise java.
The most irritating thing with these competitive/algo stuff is that no matter how many times you master it - eventually you always forget it, because you don't need it on a daily (or more like yearly) basis in the real world.
I'm not sure I understand: the linked book is meant for high-school and college students, or anyone participating regularly in programming contests: > The book is especially intended for students who want to learn algorithms and possibly participate in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) or in the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). Of course, the book is also suitable for anybody else in…
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The point is why people have to remember them ? Why not look them up when necessary ?
Why test for anything in an interview? Why not assume anyone can learn everything on the job?
There are tests and interviews because not everyone can
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I think its more of aptitude test in a domain common to all programmers.
Yeah right. Tell me the last time you built your own red-black tree in real actual code at work. Or did a sort by any other means than tacking “order by” on the end of a query. They are a test of how recently you crammed for your CS finals, that’s all.
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A lot of software developers are asked to code solutions to difficult problems using nothing other than a whiteboard. Given that under normal circumstances we use a computer, IDE, and the internet, I can see why some might opt to use spaced repetition to ensure employment.
If the interviewers aren't generous in offering corrections to small issues when you're at the whiteboard, you don't want to work for them. Whiteboard exercises are there to see how you think through a problem, not how much algo shit you crammed ahead of time.
In a high pressure situation like an interview, I personally find it difficult to think naturally through a problem. Familiarizing myself with different types of interview questions regularly helps a lot.
Has anybody gotten into this kind of programming post-college? Are there communities outside of high school and college competitions for this sort of thing?
Yeah, I think they are a terrific way to "keep your sword sharp". Jump start the neurons in the early AM or lazy summer day. As well as a way to learn new algorithms, new languages via problem solving. Code Jam had a particularly juicy one in the recent Qualifying Round, that could easily be part of a modern shadow rendering game engine. Just to put it into perspective, only around 1000 out of 25000 entrants were abl…
I don’t know how to calculate that hull off the top of my head, but that’s the type of stuff you can look up during real world scenarios.