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> this just checks that you still remember the theory you learned in college. Sure, but not everyone went to college or studied computer science / math. This s

by defen 6y ago

> this just checks that you still remember the theory you learned in college. Sure, but not everyone went to college or studied computer science / math. This seems like one of those problems that's really just testing a very specific type of preexisting knowledge.

username90 6y ago
You'll get full score even if you don't know the matrix solution, just doing a memoized recursive one is enough. However if you had that specific knowledge then they still test whether they have the skills to apply esoteric knowledge correctly which is also very valuable. Anyway, Google no longer has this question. Once it gets known outside Google bans it from interviews. Sometimes people give banned questions but in general they don't and it is taken into account. I remember it being popular as a question 4 years ago, popular questions tend to leak quickly and get banned though.
- Gunax 6y ago
  According to the blog post, the interviewers weren't even aware of the matrix solution until one candidate brought it up.
  - KnobbleMcKnees 6y ago
    I assume they all immediately handed in their letters of resignation and/or hired the candidate in as a principle engineer. Sarcasm aside, the very fact that they ban questions demonstrates how useless these types of questions really are. If you ban it because people might know it due to its popularity then what are you testing for? I thought it was for whether a candidate could solve the problem, but it appears to be to check which percentile of a special 'knowledge' club they belong to...
bakuninsbart 6y ago
If you are an experienced programmer, how long does it take you to learn the handful or so algs/concepts you need for these kinds of problems? It'd probably 20-30 hours of learning, which is a reasonable expectation to ace interviews. - And it is not like you have to necessarily come up with a solution all by yourself, communicating your issues well, and the interviewer will probably help you, if you have an otherwise impressive résume it shouldn't pose a problem at all.

by defen 6y ago

username90 6y ago

You'll get full score even if you don't know the matrix solution, just doing a memoized recursive one is enough. However if you had that specific knowledge then they still test whether they have the skills to apply esoteric knowledge correctly which is also very valuable. Anyway, Google no longer has this question. Once it gets known outside Google bans it from interviews. Sometimes people give banned questions but in general they don't and it is taken into account. I remember it being popular as a question 4 years ago, popular questions tend to leak quickly and get banned though.

Gunax 6y ago
According to the blog post, the interviewers weren't even aware of the matrix solution until one candidate brought it up.
- KnobbleMcKnees 6y ago
  I assume they all immediately handed in their letters of resignation and/or hired the candidate in as a principle engineer. Sarcasm aside, the very fact that they ban questions demonstrates how useless these types of questions really are. If you ban it because people might know it due to its popularity then what are you testing for? I thought it was for whether a candidate could solve the problem, but it appears to be to check which percentile of a special 'knowledge' club they belong to...

bakuninsbart 6y ago

If you are an experienced programmer, how long does it take you to learn the handful or so algs/concepts you need for these kinds of problems? It'd probably 20-30 hours of learning, which is a reasonable expectation to ace interviews. - And it is not like you have to necessarily come up with a solution all by yourself, communicating your issues well, and the interviewer will probably help you, if you have an otherwise impressive résume it shouldn't pose a problem at all.