3 ms·

Nearly all "good" whiteboard coders are regurgitating what they've memorized from a book or a website. It's an industry-wide joke.

• dabockster 9y ago
  And even the whiteboard questions themselves are often taken straight from a site like Leetcode or TopCoder. Unless you're interviewing at a big five company, you're essentially performing a standardized test.
  • timr 9y ago
    Yes, exactly. Companies treat this stuff exactly the way universities treat the SAT/ACT. But I'd alter your statement: the big players are the worst with this stuff. They care about nothing more than your ability to regurgitate CTCI answers at a whiteboard. One mistake on a six-hour loop, and you're toast.
    • vram22 9y ago
      >CTCI https://www.google.co.in/search?q=ctci+coding+full+form https://www.google.co.in/search?q=ctci+coding+full+form for those who don't know the acronym.
• vram22 9y ago
  Yes, and that's why sites/books like Cracking the Coding Interview exist. While I don't deny that they have some merit, they don't cover the full picture of what is needed. I've had a few people (beginners looking for a job) ask me for help on just those sorts of interview questions - and not being interested in spending time on learning the underlying fundamentals, though I had mentored them (on mentoring sites like Codementor) some on those areas earlier (at their request). Misguided, to say the least. Told them that that (just doing the interview prep) is not a good approach, because, even if they manage to clear/pass the interview, with or without my or others' help, they will likely get found out soon for their lack of fundamental knowledge, soon after getting a job.