Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
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Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#2Programming on a projector is the stuff nightmares are made of... but it still beats a whiteboard.
Anyway, I don't think those boards are there to investigate ability. They are basically useless for that. If they have a rational motive at all, it's probably because the most strict schools teach the "assemble everything in your head, then write it" method, so they accidentally select people with good credentials.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#3I don't see the problem with whiteboard as long as its emphasized that you are looking for an algorithmic solution, not a perfectly running code snippet in a specific language. Whiteboard is great for sketching out ideas and solving problems collaboratively, which is a good indicator of team fit.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#4White/Chalk board coding makes sense in a computational world that uses punch cards and has a 24 hour turnaround on output.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#5The article says that whiteboard tests are about whiteboard tests.
Ultimately, pen and paper tests are about pen and paper tests. Take-home tests are about take-home tests. Algorithm tests are about algorithm tests, and chess tests are about chess tests. But among these, I would argue that the whiteboard is better at facilitating general communication.
If you have anything to say about anything, whiteboards are the most flexible way to say it. What ends up on the whiteboard doesn't have to be some toy problem, it can be about anything. It's probably one of the most flexible programming languages in the world, because you use a combination of words, arrows, and drawings to communicate however you want, and your ideas don't even have to make sense.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#6The article says that whiteboard tests are about whiteboard tests. Ultimately, pen and paper tests are about pen and paper tests. Take-home tests are about take-home tests. Algorithm tests are about algorithm tests, and chess tests are about chess tests. But among these, I would argue that the whiteboard is better at facilitating general communication. If you have anything to say about anything, whiteboards are the m…
It's great if that's how you're being scored, but you never know how you're being scored. One interviewer might be happy with a conceptual approach, another one might reject you for leaving off a curly brace.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#7The article says that whiteboard tests are about whiteboard tests. Ultimately, pen and paper tests are about pen and paper tests. Take-home tests are about take-home tests. Algorithm tests are about algorithm tests, and chess tests are about chess tests. But among these, I would argue that the whiteboard is better at facilitating general communication. If you have anything to say about anything, whiteboards are the m…
> It's probably one of the most flexible programming languages in the world
I don't think so. There is a reason we use text editors instead of whiteboard and OCR for our daily programming. Insert/delete/copy/paste is really cumbersome on a whiteboard.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#8Try doing whiteboard exercises over video conferencing for even more fun.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#9Programming on a projector is the stuff nightmares are made of... but it still beats a whiteboard. Anyway, I don't think those boards are there to investigate ability. They are basically useless for that. If they have a rational motive at all, it's probably because the most strict schools teach the "assemble everything in your head, then write it" method, so they accidentally select people with good credentials.
How about: bring a laptop with an HDMI port (or adapter) and a dev environment for "whiteboard" and "napkin" problems.
I'd be OK with an Interview like that, just don't laugh about the fact that my laptop is a still functional but otherwise aging smart terminal for securely connecting to my real workstations when I'm somewhere I don't trust.
Re: Whiteboard exercises are a terrible way to investigate coding ability (2012)
#10Try doing whiteboard exercises over video conferencing for even more fun.
Amazon does this. My experience was terrible. I don't mind whiteboarding if they don't care about specifics, and are open to talking about process and ideas, versus strict syntax.