So what languages did everyone use? I decided to try a different one on each level, so I used Python, bash (letting GNU coreutils 'factor' do the hard work), and Haskell, respectively.
Clojure here.
Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
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Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#42So what languages did everyone use? I decided to try a different one on each level, so I used Python, bash (letting GNU coreutils 'factor' do the hard work), and Haskell, respectively.
Python, Scheme, Python. Mainly because I had nice functions in Scheme for level 2 sitting around from when I was trying to work through SICP...
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#43"Even if you're not looking for a job, we'd love to hear what you thought about the challenge." I would be curious how many people did you lose because of phonecall requirement (before you changed it). Also CSV for just a list of 22 numbers wasn't really necessary. If you do web puzzle, the best is to keep everything self-contained, no downloads, no using external channels, just copy and paste. FYI another Python che…
I don't think trivializing the combinations with Python's builtins, looking up the fib primes with OEIS, or computing factors with Alpha is cheating. I hope, in fact, it's the whole point of the exercise: choose the right tools for the job. If you're writing code to test primeness or generate Fibonacci numbers, I sure as hell don't want to hire you.
If you're writing code to test primeness or generate Fibonacci numbers, I sure as hell don't want to hire you.
Maybe you should have called it the "Greplin Challenge," then, instead of the "Greplin Programming Challenge." It's not a real task, after all; the reward comes from accepting a completely artificial challenge. I'm going to do the challenge before dinner tonight, and before I leave work I could get source code for the solutions from the guy down the hall from me who did the challenge as soon as it was posted -- and you certainly don't want to hire a guy who recodes other people's work for no reason, right?
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#44So what languages did everyone use? I decided to try a different one on each level, so I used Python, bash (letting GNU coreutils 'factor' do the hard work), and Haskell, respectively.
I used Lua, myself. I briefly considered using a more featureful language like Ruby, but I'm happy to say that Lua did the job just fine. I made good use of coroutines for the second and third problems.
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#45I've generally done well on job-interview programming challenges and gotten interviews afterwards. But looking on these quiz things, I'm still frustrated by them.
You see, all the "ordinary" question involved in job-fitting still have to be asked and answered so sometimes I've done great in ability part only to have really basic "culture" or requirements issue hit later when they could have been caught immediate.
And so, even though I've enjoyed and learned something on these quizzes, the employer who begins a relationship with a quiz seems to be saying they can demand some piece of my time without any investment on their part and this isn't setting a tone reciprocity, something I'd look for in a future employer.
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#46Um, no answer on the phone. I let it ring for over a minute.
Did you forget the 1 before the area code? I did.
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#47That was fun, good waste of time while my code was compiling. I just used C++ and hacked up a prime seive for #2 and for #3 used a combination generator I had previously used before - http://photon.poly.edu/~hbr/boost/combinations.html
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#48Spoiler alert.
Here is my Part 1 implemented in Ruby. http://gist.github.com/617566
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#49I think this would've been a better filter for hiring if the magnitude were larger (e.g. huge string, more numbers for the combination, etc) or if there was a strict time limit. As it is right now, I don't think the hardcore hackers you're looking for will be that enticed.
Re: Can you solve it? The Greplin programming challenge
#50Do I get bonus marks for solving this without writing any code?
I immediately went to Wikipedia, found out what type of CS problem the first challenge was, then followed the external links at the bottom of the page to find the Perl module I needed and installed it from CPAN.
I quit because this seemed like cheating but now I'm thinking... Maybe it was the point? To see if I would try to find something off-the-shelf to solve the problem quickly. Still not sure it was, because if so the challenge certainly doesn't demonstrate that I have any CS chops. :-\
Spoiler alert: I believe this module will do the trick http://search.cpan.org/~gray/Tree-Suffix-0.21/lib/Tree/Suffi...