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> Take home coding tests are fine. I really prefer them, honestly Home coding tests are great at gauging real life performance of a candidate, if done right, b
by subhobroto 7y ago
> Take home coding tests are fine. I really prefer them, honestly
Home coding tests are great at gauging real life performance of a candidate, if done right, but in my limited exposure (I don't have a lot of time to work on coding tests just so I can collect data samples to back my opinion), coding tests are handled extremely poorly, with expectations being set extremely vaguely.
Any realistic assignment requires a dialogue between the consumer and producer.
Companies are trying to minimize the time/money they spend on each interview.
Clarifications cost money.
Hoping a company will engage in a "what really are your requirements? are you trying to test my basic coding competency or do you want to see the best I have got?" will elicit a very vague response, if any.
If a company treats a home coding test as a real assignment and provides the candidate with the resources they need, I see no problem.
Unfortunately from my personal experience and anecdotes from others, it's just not the case.
> get rejected for not being able to cough up a DFS algorithm on the spot
DFS is easy. BFS is easy. So is Coin changing, inverting binary trees and doing back flips.
If you invest enough time and effort into it, you can do it.
I have done DFS, BFS, Coin changing, inverting binary trees many times before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22368645 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22368645
I am beginning to prefer DFS, BFS, Coin changing, inverting binary trees or even back flips for interviews.
I have to learn it once and can regurgitate until I forget them.
I pay the heavy cost once upfront and amortize it.
No such thing for a home coding test!
I now have to pay the same cost over and over again, unable to amortize it because no two companies are solving the same problem unless you view it as a meta problem and in that case you might very well end up redesigning Django, RoR or a similar meta framework.
Financially it would be cheaper to become a full time contractor and get paid to make POCs and demos unencumbered by NDAs.
As a candidate a home coding test is extremely expensive compared to the traditional DFS, BFS, Coin changing, inverting binary trees or even back flips for interviews.