My favourite interview question

Simply select a different game that's culture-appropriate. If you're interviewing in Asia, perhaps Go would be more appropriate. (And I believe the original author has a thing or two to say about that game as well. :)

Or don't even pick a game; I love "design an elevator control system". Most anyone looking for a programming position has interacted with one at some point in their life, and while you could easily mire down in details, it's not so complicated that you couldn't give it a fair hearing in the context of an interview.

There's a million things like this in our everyday lives that make great fodder for mental exploration in an interview.

Re: My favourite interview question

#5

Post by edw519 » Mon, Jan 03, 2011, 1:57 PM UTC

What I’m about to say will be blindingly obvious to the Enterprise crowd...The rules must be considered as carefully as the entities. Enterprise developers have known this for years: that’s why you see rules engines, table-driven designs, and visual workflow editors in many Enterprise applications.

What a refreshing statement at a time when we're bombarded with so many annoying "SQL is Dead" posts.

Try designing an enterprise production/distribution system where:

  - set-ups must be minimized
  - backlog must be minimized
  - inventory must be minimized
  - trucks must be full
  - warehouse space is limited
  - deliveries must be on time, but not too early
  - sales people must have stock on hand
  - plant absorption must be maximized
  - bills must be paid on time
  - down time must be zero
  - working capital must be put to the best use
  - stockholders must be satisfied

Say what you want about enterprise programmers, but they get stuff built that handles all of these while academicians fuck around with linear algebra and OO castles for years.

After this, Monopoly sounds like a day off. Great post!

Re: My favourite interview question

#6

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 03, 2011, 1:58 PM UTC

roadnottaken wrote: post #3

What if your candidate isn't familiar with Monopoly because, say, they didn't grow up in the west?

[deleted]

Re: My favourite interview question

#7

Post by nopassrecover » Mon, Jan 03, 2011, 2:00 PM UTC

roadnottaken wrote: post #3

What if your candidate isn't familiar with Monopoly because, say, they didn't grow up in the west?

I've had similar interview questions before about different types of boats (I know barely anything about boats). The secret here of course is to demonstrate how you can deal with unknowns, turn it into a problem you understand and then solve it. If anything, you have greater opportunity to demonstrate yourself here.

Re: My favourite interview question

#8

Post by dazzawazza » Mon, Jan 03, 2011, 2:13 PM UTC

logic wrote: post #4

roadnottaken wrote: post #3

What if your candidate isn't familiar with Monopoly because, say, they didn't grow up in the west?

Simply select a different game that's culture-appropriate. If you're interviewing in Asia, perhaps Go would be more appropriate. (And I believe the original author has a thing or two to say about that game as well. :) Or don't even pick a game; I love "design an elevator control system". Most anyone looking for a programming position has interacted with one at some point in their life, and while you could easily mire…

The rules of Go are well defined, the interesting thing about Monopoly is that it's 'loose' definition replicates many of the real world problems that arise in a devs life.

One of my first Uni projects was to write an elevator control system and as you say, it's very revealing.

Re: My favourite interview question

#9

Post by dazzawazza » Mon, Jan 03, 2011, 2:16 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #5

What I’m about to say will be blindingly obvious to the Enterprise crowd...The rules must be considered as carefully as the entities. Enterprise developers have known this for years: that’s why you see rules engines, table-driven designs, and visual workflow editors in many Enterprise applications. What a refreshing statement at a time when we're bombarded with so many annoying "SQL is Dead" posts. Try designing an e…

Of course many of the concrete methods enterprise developers use come from these 'academicians' so don't be too quick to judge them.

We all stand on their shoulders... it's fine to give em a good kick every so often but remember who is holding us up.

Re: My favourite interview question

#10

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 03, 2011, 2:19 PM UTC

dazzawazza wrote: post #8

logic wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simply select a different game that's culture-appropriate. If you're interviewing in Asia, perhaps Go would be more appropriate. (And I believe the original author has a thing or two to say about that game as well. :) Or don't even pick a game; I love "design an elevator control system". Most anyone looking for a programming position has interacted with one at some point in their life, and while you could easily mire…

The rules of Go are well defined, the interesting thing about Monopoly is that it's 'loose' definition replicates many of the real world problems that arise in a devs life. One of my first Uni projects was to write an elevator control system and as you say, it's very revealing.

[deleted]