Working for a web company. Our favourite JS question is,
"What happens if you do this?"
var func = function func () {
// blah
};Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
11–20 of 363 posts
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#12Applied math/scientific computing:
If hiring someone, I would describe some practical scenarios problems involving the solution of finite-dimensional linear systems, and ask to see how they would suggest solving them in each circumstance (LU, QR, SVD, iterative methods, etc). More discussion oriented than in doing rote recital of algorithm structure, probably.
I would do something similar for functional characterization/pattern extraction via FFT/DCT/SVD/wavelets/ICA/etc.
Finally, I would construct some problems involving appropriate selection of statistical inference models and associated tests of hypothesis (from the usual the Fisher and Neyman-Pearson perspectives). The basics of Bayesian inference is good to know as well.
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#13I have been unable to think of one for Linux system administrators. :-(
Ask about disaster recovery, backups, penetration testing, what to do if a database/webserver breach occurs, or any form of generic networking/routing.
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#14Not math but could be interesting anyway: Genomics, specifically quality engineering. When hiring for my team we ask candidates to generally describe 1) DNA translation and 2) statistics for experimental design (AQL, RQL, etc).
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#15I was an electrical engineer before I was a computer programmer and people liked asking questions about Ohm's law and calculating total resistance of resistors in series and parallel. EDIT: I should clarify... They weren't asking about the theory behind Ohm's law but rather to apply it to various circuits.
That feels more like asking the difference between a class and object. Its not really asking someone to solve nearly the simplest problem to prove they can can code. Would the equivalent not be making a basic circuit to do something specific and hence a specific example that has one or two potential obvious issues?
Sorry Ohms law is not like a class or an object in any way at all.
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#16Working for a web company. Our favourite JS question is, "What happens if you do this?" var func = function func () { // blah };
The function is able to reference itself, allowing recursion. This used to cause an error in Safari though, am I right?
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#17I have been unable to think of one for Linux system administrators. :-(
I've found 'list 10 two-letter linux commands and their use'
They don't actually have to think of 10, but their answer can show what they've actually had to do on a *nix system. Its also lets you prod them with questions like 'how might I get disk usage' or if they mention dd, ask them how they use it, what its good for etc.
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#18I'm an SE now, but I got my degree in Northwest Semitic Literature and Linguistics:
Here's a couple:
Are Semitic languages VSO or SVO?
What does it mean that Semitic words are triliteral?
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#19I'm a mathematician, and sometimes I need to assess the level at which I'll pitch an explanation. Although I don't do this in a setting where it's possible to set a test, as such, I do ask this question: An equivalence relation is reflexive, symmetric, and transitive. If E is an equivalence relation, and we know E(x,y) but we know !E(y,z), what do we know about E(x,z), and why? It seems a great filter for people who…
Re: E(x,z) is false (or !E(x,z)). Otherwise we would have E(y,z) given that E(y,x), that's a contradiction.
Re: Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
#20Applied math/scientific computing: If hiring someone, I would describe some practical scenarios problems involving the solution of finite-dimensional linear systems, and ask to see how they would suggest solving them in each circumstance (LU, QR, SVD, iterative methods, etc). More discussion oriented than in doing rote recital of algorithm structure, probably. I would do something similar for functional characterizat…
Interesting - this is exactly the kind of answer I'm looking to learn from. Are these really so utterly fundamental that someone could do them under pressure without thinking?
Is it the case that someone who can't answer these near automatically is, in effect, incompetent (in this field)?
I'm wondering if you've set the bar higher than FizzBuzz is in computing, or if this really is equivalent.
Thanks!