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A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

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Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#41

Post by camperman »

Not only is this an excellent introduction to competitive programming, it's also a very nice overview of some of the nuts and bolts of C++. I recently have had to deal with a large C++ codebase and this is a really good little refresher.

Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#43

Post by dsacco »

user5994461 wrote: post #4

Competitive programming = coding challenges, like Google Code Jam and HackerRank. Nothing to do with getting a better job or a better salary.

But no one mentioned those things, and the book doesn't seem to either. Why make this book about the crusade against Google's interviewing zeitgeist?

For what it's worth, I work with someone who used to be (is? I think he stopped competing) red on TopCoder. He's one of the best developers I've ever worked with. I don't know about the causation there, but his development process and skill is better than most of what I've seen in many other tech companies (I say this in the context of reviewing other companies' source code for errors and getting an understanding of what their respective SDLCs look like).

That's obviously a sample size of one, but I felt like saying it because I think you're really pushing it with your comment. It almost just seems like you have an axe to grind. I can agree that a good developer doesn't need to be adept at competitive programming, but it does help with understanding things like algorithms, data structures and time complexity.

I think you trying to claim that competitive programming has "nothing to do with getting a better job" is just as egregious as people who only hire engineers that can produce impeccable red-black trees on a whiteboard with little preparation.

Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#44

Post by gpawl »

dsacco wrote: post #43
user5994461 wrote: post #4

Competitive programming = coding challenges, like Google Code Jam and HackerRank. Nothing to do with getting a better job or a better salary.

But no one mentioned those things, and the book doesn't seem to either. Why make this book about the crusade against Google's interviewing zeitgeist? For what it's worth, I work with someone who used to be (is? I think he stopped competing) red on TopCoder. He's one of the best developers I've ever worked with. I don't know about the causation there, but his development process and skill is better than most of what I…

Relax, parent poster was simply clarifying that the 'competitive' referred to programming "sports" contests, not competing for a programming job.

Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#46

Post by dsacco »

gpawl wrote: post #44
dsacco wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But no one mentioned those things, and the book doesn't seem to either. Why make this book about the crusade against Google's interviewing zeitgeist? For what it's worth, I work with someone who used to be (is? I think he stopped competing) red on TopCoder. He's one of the best developers I've ever worked with. I don't know about the causation there, but his development process and skill is better than most of what I…

Relax, parent poster was simply clarifying that the 'competitive' referred to programming "sports" contests, not competing for a programming job.

Sure, but I don't think a good faith interpretation of the title would require that sort of disclaimer, and look at the rest of the thread that resulted.

Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#47

Post by shaftway »

tagag wrote: post #36
just2n wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know where you're getting those figures from, but they're off by more than a factor of 2 based on information I have from friends in Google and previous disclosures here on HN by Googlers. Google won't pay most new hires out of school much over $100k in the bay area, and they adjust based on living expense. AFAIK the higher end of junior compensation is close to $200k, which is where you start getting into th…

For new grad (B.S.) software engineers this year, the standard offer is ~160k total compensation amortized over the first four years, including signing/target annual bonus but not including any raises or stock refreshers that may happen. I'm graduating with an M.S., starting this summer. Using competing offers, I negotiated up to 190-195k amortized over four years, including 215-220k in the first year (because of sig…

There might be a few that accidentally fall into unicorn jobs, but best-of-the-best are right about in your range. There's just not enough data on potential hires to create that kind of valuation, and if they are best-of-the-best, they'll rapidly rise.

Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#48

Post by kevinclancy »

throwaway_374 wrote: post #23
40acres wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same skills used in competitive programming are needed to pass a modern day technical interview at some of the larger companies. So I wouldn't necessarily say it has nothing to do with getting a better job or salary.

Sadly the proliferation of sites like HackerRank (YC funded shamefully) means competitive programming is the first "filter" stage for interviews these days.

Is that sad? It's a better filter than college degrees.

Re: A Competitive Programmer's Handbook

#49

Post by uptownfunk »

Excellent writing, clear and easy to understand. Would appreciate the links to example problems as others have mentioned (and solutions too if available). Seems like an interesting book to keep me sharp for if/when I ever go on the job market. Well done.
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