I've done a number of these tests, and typically they consist of unconventional pointer arithmetic, designed to catch you out. Despite having been writing soft

I've done a number of these tests, and typically they consist of unconventional pointer arithmetic, designed to catch you out. Despite having been writing software for the last couple of decades, I probably don't perform well on these paper and pencil tests. My typical strategy is not to sit and stare at code to determine bugs by intuition alone, but just to compile it and see what happens in a much more interactive way, and I also make extensive use of reference materials including the internet, books and previous code which I've written to do similar things.