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If you cannot write a basic loop and if statement of maybe 10-20 lines on a whiteboard, you're going to have a hard time in a team of developers trying to colla

If you cannot write a basic loop and if statement of maybe 10-20 lines on a whiteboard, you're going to have a hard time in a team of developers trying to collaborate in problem solving. This is not implementing van Emde Boa search structure, but simple stuff any entry level programmer must comprehend for a general programming posistion.

ubernostrum 10y ago
If you want a coding exercise you can have one. If you think the only way to have a coding exercise is to pose a whiteboard problem, then my advice is get out of this industry, now.
- hvidgaard 10y ago
  I give my candidates a choice of a whiteboard or a laptop and projector. Most people choose the whiteboard. Some outright say that they need to look at it at home. The latter will not be able to participate in a meaningful way in a team, and as much as I want to, I don't have work for a loner. But my point is that, as a team you need to be able to express ideas in a format that other developers can reason with you in a live setting. Nothing beats a whiteboard in that regard. You can use a projector and a computer, but what if you need to draw a graph or something else? It's not a tall order to ask them to be able to do this. And please don't forget that I'm not asking people to implement RB search trees, but usually a simple loop and an if statement. Reverse a list using a for loop, transform this string into a palindrome, is this string a palindrone, remove all duplicates in a list - stuff like that.
- random314 10y ago
  > If you think the only way to have a coding exercise is to pose a whiteboard problem, then my advice is get out of this industry, now. Asking coders with 10 years of experience to write 10 lines of pseudoish code is wrong!! Try avoiding a coding exercise in interviews for coding positions at all costs. In the worst case make it a take home exercise. This is the only way to save this industry!!! Got it!

ubernostrum 10y ago

If you want a coding exercise you can have one. If you think the only way to have a coding exercise is to pose a whiteboard problem, then my advice is get out of this industry, now.

hvidgaard 10y ago
I give my candidates a choice of a whiteboard or a laptop and projector. Most people choose the whiteboard. Some outright say that they need to look at it at home. The latter will not be able to participate in a meaningful way in a team, and as much as I want to, I don't have work for a loner. But my point is that, as a team you need to be able to express ideas in a format that other developers can reason with you in a live setting. Nothing beats a whiteboard in that regard. You can use a projector and a computer, but what if you need to draw a graph or something else? It's not a tall order to ask them to be able to do this. And please don't forget that I'm not asking people to implement RB search trees, but usually a simple loop and an if statement. Reverse a list using a for loop, transform this string into a palindrome, is this string a palindrone, remove all duplicates in a list - stuff like that.
random314 10y ago
> If you think the only way to have a coding exercise is to pose a whiteboard problem, then my advice is get out of this industry, now. Asking coders with 10 years of experience to write 10 lines of pseudoish code is wrong!! Try avoiding a coding exercise in interviews for coding positions at all costs. In the worst case make it a take home exercise. This is the only way to save this industry!!! Got it!