The software development final exam: Algorithms and Data Structures

I feel like this test would be better if it were reasonably timed, and you were allowed to look up the answers. That might be a little bit closer to what I actually do (especially when I don't know what something is). Calling me lucky to get by without knowing offhand the definition of a B-Tree, is kind of rude and also very wrong.

> O(2^n) equal to O(3^n)

Yep. So I looked into it and it seems they are not equal. Every f(n) in the set O(2^n) belongs to O(3^n). While this means that O(2^n) is a subset of O(3^n), we can see from the trival case f(n)=3^n that O(3^n) is not a subset O(2^n) since 3^n > 2^n for all n as n approaches infinity, or there is no k such that is exists an n0, such that all n > n0 implies 3^n Great. I still don't see how I am more qualified to do absolutely anything in life.

But the author specifically asked people not to "cheat".

I'm seeing a lot of apologists for mediocrity here. They seem to be drawn out by articles like this one as well as articles about interviewing.

Despite the sentiment here, Colin is right: this is knowledge that developers ought to have. Not because they need it to do their day job, but because they can't avoid learning these topics if they truly love the field.

Sure, you can earn a pretty decent paycheck hacking web apps and "enterprise" software without ever learning any of these things, and you may think, "This stuff is useless for most everyone." A friend of mine replied to that sentiment on Twitter: "If you manage a Taco Bell, I'm sure you feel a lot of the stuff in an MBA is useless for managers too." You can successfully bring in a paycheck programming without knowledge like this--just like you can successfully manage a Taco Bell without having an MBA--but you should not claim to excel in your field in either case.

Call me a snob if you will, but I don't want to work with mediocre programmers whose knowledge takes them only as far as the nearest web framework any more than I want to do business with the manager of my local Taco Bell. I want people with passion for our field, and those people can't avoid gaining the kind of knowledge that Colin's test asks about.

> Call me a snob if you will, but I don't want to work with mediocre programmers

> I want people with passion for our field, and those people can't avoid gaining the kind of knowledge that Colin's test asks about.

Claiming to own the definition of passion is not snobbish but conceited.

Perhaps I consider programmers mediocre if they lack design experience and cannot show me how to setup custom guides in illustrator. "I want people with passion for our field" I don't simply want programmers who end at the compiled code, I want people who understand design, typography and color theory. A programmer who cannot do these things is mediocre at best.

Or maybe it is linux that is the bar. It doesn't make any sense for a programmer to use windows, only real programmers use linux. They should be able to install/configure openssh, tomcat, nginx, redis, mysql-server. They need to know bash inside and out, be able to create permissions, user groups and have a deep and thorough understanding of the kernel. If you are a windows programmer then I don't have time for you at my company where all we do all day is build awesome.

Perhaps it is mathematics. Algebra, calculus, trig, geometry. Statistics, analytics... I hope you have your TI-83 ready for this interview. As only the most mediocre of programmers will barely be able to survive in this industry without a MS in Applied Mathematics.

Hire who you want, base your interviews how you want you want. Just don't assume to be on the upper bar and beneath you lies mediocrity. That's all.