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Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

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Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#461

Post by lupire »

kentm wrote: post #346
grugagag wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why stop there? Why not test candidates with problems they have never seen before? Or problems similar to the problems of the organization hiring? Leetcode mostly relies on memorizing patterns with a shallow understanding but shows the candidates have a gaming ability. Does that imply quality in any way? Some people argue that willing to study for leetcode shows some virtue. I very much disagree with that.

To play the devils advocate, being able to memorize patterns and recognize which patterns apply to a given problem is extremely valuable. Tons of software dev is knowing the subset of algorithms, data structures, and architecture that apply to a similar problem and being able to adapt it.

Algorithms and data structures are absolutely trivial for 99% of software dev work. 1% are inventing MapReduce.

Architecture is not part of leetcode.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#462

Post by lupire »

userbinator wrote: post #410
Tenemo wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's even a rocket emoji in server console.logs... There are memes with ChatGPT and rocket emojis as a sign of AI use. The whole repo looks super vibe-coded, emojis, abundance of redundant comments, all in perfect English and grammar, and the readme also has that "chatty" feel to it. I'm not saying that using AI for take-home assignments is bad/unethical overall, but you need to be honest about it. If he was lying…

If you're using AI for an interview, you are basically telling them "you could just not bother with hiring me and use AI yourself" which is neither good for you nor them.

In 2025, everyone is hiring for people who can use AI to write software. They already are using AI themselves. They need more people who can.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#463

Post by jakewins »

torginus wrote: post #451

Very interesting article and good points. But how about we flip the original statement around: Many problems thought to require giant software packages/libraries are very solvable locally if you know what you are doing This is why LC is actually meaningful - imagine if you faced the coin challenge problem IRLin prod and you decided to pull in a constraint solver - what would've been a 25 line function now is a giant…

You are right to be sceptical of “dependency bloat” - many many systems could be made simpler to debug and maintain if that advice was followed.

But: I urge you to give constraint solvers a try. This is something very different from some hipster ORM library. The good ones will be a single dependency containing extremely carefully optimised matrix math code that let you solve optimisation problems faster and with much more maintainable code.

Try some toy problem with the HiGHS solver for instance, it has good python bindings and even ships as a wasm package you can run in browsers. “Find the optimal times to run this heat pump given electricity prices”, “find the ideal train departure times that optimise for when people need to travel and minimises transfers”

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#464

Post by [deleted] »

tracker1 wrote: post #77

My biggest problem with leetcode type questions is that you can't ask clarifying questions. My mind just doesn't work like most do, and leetcode to some extent seems to rely on people memorizing leetcode type answers. On a few, there's enough context that I can relate real understanding of the problem to, such as the coin example in the article... for others I've seen there's not enough there for me to "get" the ques…

[deleted]

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#465

Post by lupire »

jonnycoder wrote: post #260
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. I just went through an interview process where I absolutely killed the assignment (had the best one they'd seen), had positive signal/feedback from multiple engineers, CEO liked me a lot etc, only to get sunk by a CTO who thought it would be cool to give me a surprise live test because of "vibe coding paranoia". 11 weeks in the process, didn't get the role. Beyond fucking stupid. This was the demo/take-home (fo…

Hah I feel you there. Around 2 years ago I did a take home assignment for a hiring manager (scientist) for Merck. The part B of the assignment was to decode binary data and there were 3 challenges: easy, medium and hard. I spent around 40 hours of time and during my second interview, the manager didn't like my answer about how I would design the UI so he quickly wished me luck and ended the call. The first interview…

Enjoy the ultimate classic tour de force from world treasure Chung-chieh (Ken) Shan’s wikiblog "Proper Treatment"

discussion / punchline http://conway.rutgers.edu/~ccshan/wiki/blog/posts/WordNumber...

Start of main content: http://conway.rutgers.edu/~ccshan/wiki/blog/posts/WordNumber...

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#467

Post by MichaelZuo »

liqilin1567 wrote: post #466

[flagged]

It seems like a moot point since there are already too many people who can clear leetcode hard than there are available positions that require it.

It’s like scoring over 2 standard deviations on an IQ test, great, but by definition millions of people can do that.

Edit: I’ve heard HFT firms are now moving to doing it on paper in person to prevent any kind of cheating for their interviews, which would make it a better signal.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#469

Post by sigotirandolas »

tavavex wrote: post #192
yepitwas wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the candidate asks if you're sure you want them to use any language and you say "yes", and then get pissy when they do, the candidate isn't the one who sabotaged anything and they're dodging a bullet if they "fail".

I feel like I'm entering a whole different universe on HN. Maybe things are this equal and fair on the senior, high-paying part of the spectrum that most people here seem to occupy, but in general there's a huge power imbalance in job interviews. Unless you're special and the company wants you in particular, it costs them nothing to turn you down in favor of the other 10000 perfect applicants, while you must find a j…

> Maybe things are this equal and fair on the senior, high-paying part of the spectrum

I don't think the fundamental dynamics change by seniority, just that after some level there may simply be a smaller pool.

From the interviewers perspective, it makes sense to reject a candidate if they see any possibility it could be a flop. A bad hire is going to frustrate the team and look bad to the company, missing the best candidate is just going to result in hiring their next best pick.

> As someone just starting out, the general feeling among my peers is that I must bend to the interviewer's whims, any resistance or pushback will get you rejected.

I guess this is very context dependent but I can also see "bending to the interviewer's whims" backfiring if they see you're just trying to flatter them. I could see some interviewers valuing that you can explain your point if it's framed in a way that shows you are both observant and easy to work with. If it's framed as a more aggressive kind of pushback, yes that's going to get you rejected.

But yeah, I can also see that if you're willing to take any offer at any company as a junior just to get your feet into the industry most interviewers may not be specially smart and resisting is likely to go wrong.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#470

Post by saagarjha »

Jensson wrote: post #445
tavavex wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't miss that about interviews, they just know that the balance of power is so skewed that the interests of the employer become the only relevant part. The employer can keep going through hundreds of applicants until they find someone who's literally perfect in every single way, they have nearly unlimited time. Meanwhile, the applicants need a job now, any job at all, they're on a hard time limit until their…

> they just know that the balance of power is so skewed that the interests of the employer become the only relevant part That happens since people only apply to very well paying jobs. If you apply to shit enough jobs they wont be asking hard questions, and those who offer shit jobs will say "all the power lies with the employees, I have no power to make them stay or apply, I am social and nice to them and they still…

I’ve had some of my hardest interview questions come from the people who underpay significantly.
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