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This is a good cheat sheet for those who don't have (or have forgotten) the knowledge but want to game an algorithm heavy interview. The problem I got with this

by dcw303 9y ago

This is a good cheat sheet for those who don't have (or have forgotten) the knowledge but want to game an algorithm heavy interview. The problem I got with this is exactly the same as when I tried reading the "Cracking the Coding Interview" book: I got through a few chapters and then the author mentions something off the cuff with an assumption that the reader will know what they mean. But of course, I don't, because these books are basically a collection of cheats and hacks. I get frustrated that I don't understand it, so I seek out something that starts with the fundamentals and expands from there. What I'm trying to say is that I'd rather slog through 900 pages of Sedgewick and come out with a thorough understanding rather than try 20 quiz questions to be stumped by whatever the hell they were trying to get at with question 21 and then give up.

gameguy43 9y ago
CEO of Interview Cake here. We work really hard at trying to not do this. Feedback on where folks get left behind is pure gold to us, because it lets us know what we need to smooth out next. We're not trying to be the /biggest/ resource out there--we're trying to be the /smoothest/. For this article, do you remember where specifically you got left behind?
- dcw303 9y ago
  To be fair to your article, it actually reads quite well and has good detail for what's covered. I thought the big-o coverage was a bit sparse, but I also didn't see the expand link the first time.
  - gameguy43 9y ago
    Eep. Second person to say that in this thread. We had it in one of those gray boxes in an earlier draft (so you didn't have to click anything to see it). We'll probably move it back out.
bsamuels 9y ago
i have the same feelings about "cracking the coding interview" the day someone unironically asks me to "Write an algorithm to print all ways of arranging eight queens on a chess board so that none of them share the same row, column or diagonal" - I will jump off a bridge
- nickrio 9y ago
  You can finish that algorithm and then ask for a *2 wage LOL
  - sidlls 9y ago
    Or you can refuse to do that and then work on getting a position where you aren't treated like a monkey expected to do tricks on demand and also have a better wage and social status.
    - lmm 9y ago
      Of course your extra wage goes straight into maintaining that status with uncomfortable clothes, overpriced cars, a big house in the suburbs to support your trophy family who you then spend hours of unpaid overtime avoiding... I mean you do you, but any job is going to involve a certain amount of doing stuff; personally I find CS algorithm puzzles a lot more fun than status games.
      - sidlls 9y ago
        Status games? Hours of unpaid overtime? What are you talking about? The engineering managers (below the "C suite") everywhere I've worked have more or less kept the same hours as I have, dressed to the same standard, and used the same commute options as anyone else.
        lmm 9y ago
        When you say things like "treated like a monkey expected to do tricks on demand", you're playing status games.
Terr_ 9y ago
You might like "The algorithm design manual" by Skiena. (Second edition.) It's one of the few dead-tree books I ended up buying this year, albeit after perusing a library copy.

by dcw303 9y ago

gameguy43 9y ago

CEO of Interview Cake here. We work really hard at trying to not do this. Feedback on where folks get left behind is pure gold to us, because it lets us know what we need to smooth out next. We're not trying to be the /biggest/ resource out there--we're trying to be the /smoothest/. For this article, do you remember where specifically you got left behind?

dcw303 9y ago
To be fair to your article, it actually reads quite well and has good detail for what's covered. I thought the big-o coverage was a bit sparse, but I also didn't see the expand link the first time.
- gameguy43 9y ago
  Eep. Second person to say that in this thread. We had it in one of those gray boxes in an earlier draft (so you didn't have to click anything to see it). We'll probably move it back out.

bsamuels 9y ago

i have the same feelings about "cracking the coding interview" the day someone unironically asks me to "Write an algorithm to print all ways of arranging eight queens on a chess board so that none of them share the same row, column or diagonal" - I will jump off a bridge

nickrio 9y ago
You can finish that algorithm and then ask for a *2 wage LOL
- sidlls 9y ago
  Or you can refuse to do that and then work on getting a position where you aren't treated like a monkey expected to do tricks on demand and also have a better wage and social status.
  - lmm 9y ago
    Of course your extra wage goes straight into maintaining that status with uncomfortable clothes, overpriced cars, a big house in the suburbs to support your trophy family who you then spend hours of unpaid overtime avoiding... I mean you do you, but any job is going to involve a certain amount of doing stuff; personally I find CS algorithm puzzles a lot more fun than status games.
    - sidlls 9y ago
      Status games? Hours of unpaid overtime? What are you talking about? The engineering managers (below the "C suite") everywhere I've worked have more or less kept the same hours as I have, dressed to the same standard, and used the same commute options as anyone else.
      - lmm 9y ago
        When you say things like "treated like a monkey expected to do tricks on demand", you're playing status games.

Terr_ 9y ago

You might like "The algorithm design manual" by Skiena. (Second edition.) It's one of the few dead-tree books I ended up buying this year, albeit after perusing a library copy.