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CS students that haven't taken graph theory yet probably don't know the number of links in a mesh grid. Have you considered that? And honestly, are you telling
by mfukar 16y ago
CS students that haven't taken graph theory yet probably don't know the number of links in a mesh grid. Have you considered that?
And honestly, are you telling me that nobody answered in "however long it takes", ie. nobody just counted them on paper?
- endtime 16y agoDespite my other comment, I actually think anyone smart should be able to answer the complete graph question, especially if you walk through a couple smaller examples. You don't need a class on graph theory to recognize the pattern 1+2+...+(n-1).
- mfukar 16y agoYou're right, and that's why I asked if nobody really "brute-forced" it, but one probably never knew about meshes and never wondered about the # of links in them until one has had someone describe it to them. My objection, if you will, is that the stimulus for such subjects comes mainly from a class on graph theory (sure, there are exceptions).
- Maro 16y agoBy the time the interviewee would be desperate enough to brute force it [were they in a room by themselves], they get so embarassed they say they don't know and they'd rather move on.
- mfukar 16y agoThat's a failure of the interviewer in my opinion. Means he managed to intimidate (not pressure) the guy/gal enough to back off.
- dagw 16y agoYou shouldn't need graph theory to simply reason your way to an answer using a bit of thought and some basic arithmetic. Anybody how looks at a problem and goes "oh that looks like X and I don't know X" and then shut of their brains is probably not a great hire.
- mfukar 16y ago1. That's what I said. Are you sure you read the whole post? 2. That's exactly what the underlying problem is; oversimplifications regarding interview processes, a complex enough human interaction as it is.