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I've been a cpp and java programmer for 12 years and not once needed to use algorithmic complexity on the job. The fact that so many places focus on this baffle

by Timmah 8y ago

I've been a cpp and java programmer for 12 years and not once needed to use algorithmic complexity on the job. The fact that so many places focus on this baffles me. Big-O questions should be reserved for system architect positions only. Out of all the arbitrary topics, I think they should focus on pedantic syntax questions for whatever language they use. Show snippets of code and ask "what's wrong with this picture?". That would at least select for people with better language mastery and, in theory, faster development times.

nicoburns 8y ago
I don't really believe this. You use algorithmic complexity every time you choose between a HashMap and an Array. I'm a javascript developer, and I make that kind of choice several times a day. Having said that, I've never once needed to know the kinds of questions that the ask in these interviews off the top of my head. And I highly doubt google engineers need to often either.
- bordercases 8y ago
  Since Google is such a well-spring of computational resources and have incredible scalability requirements, I'd question your claim that they don't use algorithmic thinking regularly.
  - ummonk 8y ago
    He is saying they do need to care about algorithmic complexity in choosing data structures or implementations, but rarely need to figure out really clever algorithmic tricks (of the sort which tend to be tested by harder algorithmic questions, like the "find whether there is a loop in singly-linked-list", which relies on the running pointer technique which you never need to use in real life).
    - bordercases 8y ago
      If you didn't know the answer to the question, would you have been able to come up with it on your own, from scratch? Merely practicing interview questions without pondering them produces the false impression that they're useless trivia, when actually deciding to come up with the answers to these questions and struggle with the clues inside them which produce the answers show a much richer conceptual tapestry for data structures that goes beyond memorizing tricks.

by Timmah 8y ago

nicoburns 8y ago

I don't really believe this. You use algorithmic complexity every time you choose between a HashMap and an Array. I'm a javascript developer, and I make that kind of choice several times a day. Having said that, I've never once needed to know the kinds of questions that the ask in these interviews off the top of my head. And I highly doubt google engineers need to often either.

bordercases 8y ago
Since Google is such a well-spring of computational resources and have incredible scalability requirements, I'd question your claim that they don't use algorithmic thinking regularly.
- ummonk 8y ago
  He is saying they do need to care about algorithmic complexity in choosing data structures or implementations, but rarely need to figure out really clever algorithmic tricks (of the sort which tend to be tested by harder algorithmic questions, like the "find whether there is a loop in singly-linked-list", which relies on the running pointer technique which you never need to use in real life).
  - bordercases 8y ago
    If you didn't know the answer to the question, would you have been able to come up with it on your own, from scratch? Merely practicing interview questions without pondering them produces the false impression that they're useless trivia, when actually deciding to come up with the answers to these questions and struggle with the clues inside them which produce the answers show a much richer conceptual tapestry for data structures that goes beyond memorizing tricks.