Tell that to the 1000's of people who can't implement them. I agree, its not that hard, but that's all the more reason to avoid giving attitude about the quest

Tell that to the 1000's of people who can't implement them. I agree, its not that hard, but that's all the more reason to avoid giving attitude about the question. Answer it quickly and move on. If you can't answer it quickly, maybe it _is_ that complex. A lot of interviewers have a short time window in which to conduct their 1-on-1. Sometimes they ask easy questions for a reason. Often, I start with a soft ball that I intend on building on - turn a linked list into a doubly linked list; a circular list; can you improve the lookup time; can you make it generic; what are the space constraints; what are the time constraints. And if they can't answer the simple question, we just leave it at that. A simple question can easily be built upon. "I'd Google it" can not.