3 ms·

None of these are asked in G interviews. The commenters are asinine.

xtracto 6y ago
No? https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en
- mav3rick 6y ago
  Okay ? No one's discounting his achievements. What's wrong with knowing stuff about a binary tree ? Is ignorance a badge of honor now ?
  - rococode 6y ago
    Yeah, nothing wrong with not having memorized how to do that - it's certainly not often useful in practice. But if you're given the definitions and a couple minutes to figure it out (which, in an interview, you are), and you actually can't come up with the 10 lines of code to do it, maybe that question is working as intended after all...
    - reallydontask 6y ago
      > But if you're given the definitions and a couple minutes to figure it out (which, in an interview, you are), and you actually can't come up with the 10 lines of code to do it, maybe that question is working as intended after all... or maybe the person struggles to work things out in an extremely stressful situation I speak as somebody that finds interviews Extremely stressful and if working there is regularly my interview levels of stress then please do reject me.
      - mav3rick 6y ago
        Don't you think actors audition for parts ? Is that stressful ? Does preparation help ? 300k+ paying jobs will have demand. With that comes pressure.
- vacheron 6y ago
  This story seems like a bad example of a false negative. There were claims by Google insiders that Max was given a particularly easy interview as a formality. I am by no means a brilliant programmer and also rusty with algorithms, but given the structure and question, I would be surprised if most people couldn't figure out how to invert a binary tree within a matter of minutes. Max himself later opened up[0] and admitted to being difficult to work with. It is entirely likely that he was rejected based on his personality and not his ability. As someone who contributed to Homebrew many years ago I would not be surprised if this was the case. In their own words: "I am often a dick, I am often difficult, I often don’t know computer science". I am not sure why any company would want to hire someone like that and put the culture of the team in jeopardy. [0] - https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-logic-behind-Google-rejecting-Max-Howell-the-author-of-Homebrew-for-not-being-able-to-invert-a-binary-tree/answer/Max-Howell?share=100e0bb6&srid=unBJ9 https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-logic-behind-Google-rejectin...
  - mav3rick 6y ago
    Don't worry they won't reply to this. Doesn't fit their narrative. Learning CS basics just isn't sexy enough for hacker news. Why learn anything over this.setState in React.
    - xtracto 6y ago
      I love your response because I have a PhD in Computer Science. I do LeetCode as and CodeWars problems in the mornings for fun (I like coding and helps me avoid getting rusty) and I have been a hiring manager for over 10 years. But yeah, other than the "sexiness" of CS concepts it's only because of the "narrative" we want to push.
      - mav3rick 6y ago
        So you do think Leetcode is useful ? What's up with the flex ? Congratulations on the PhD and job, I guess ?. Looks like you could definitely invert a binary tree.
abstractbarista 6y ago
Not necessarily true. Some of these most certainly have been.
mav3rick 6y ago
None of you have taken interviews at G. There's a strict edict to discard these questions. "Dev ops was too busy out counting all the street lights in the United States" If it was a Consulting interview any one would have gotten in. Thankfully no one asks these at G.

No? https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en https://twitter.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en

mav3rick 6y ago
Okay ? No one's discounting his achievements. What's wrong with knowing stuff about a binary tree ? Is ignorance a badge of honor now ?
- rococode 6y ago
  Yeah, nothing wrong with not having memorized how to do that - it's certainly not often useful in practice. But if you're given the definitions and a couple minutes to figure it out (which, in an interview, you are), and you actually can't come up with the 10 lines of code to do it, maybe that question is working as intended after all...
  - reallydontask 6y ago
    > But if you're given the definitions and a couple minutes to figure it out (which, in an interview, you are), and you actually can't come up with the 10 lines of code to do it, maybe that question is working as intended after all... or maybe the person struggles to work things out in an extremely stressful situation I speak as somebody that finds interviews Extremely stressful and if working there is regularly my interview levels of stress then please do reject me.
    - mav3rick 6y ago
      Don't you think actors audition for parts ? Is that stressful ? Does preparation help ? 300k+ paying jobs will have demand. With that comes pressure.
vacheron 6y ago
This story seems like a bad example of a false negative. There were claims by Google insiders that Max was given a particularly easy interview as a formality. I am by no means a brilliant programmer and also rusty with algorithms, but given the structure and question, I would be surprised if most people couldn't figure out how to invert a binary tree within a matter of minutes. Max himself later opened up[0] and admitted to being difficult to work with. It is entirely likely that he was rejected based on his personality and not his ability. As someone who contributed to Homebrew many years ago I would not be surprised if this was the case. In their own words: "I am often a dick, I am often difficult, I often don’t know computer science". I am not sure why any company would want to hire someone like that and put the culture of the team in jeopardy. [0] - https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-logic-behind-Google-rejecting-Max-Howell-the-author-of-Homebrew-for-not-being-able-to-invert-a-binary-tree/answer/Max-Howell?share=100e0bb6&srid=unBJ9 https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-logic-behind-Google-rejectin...
- mav3rick 6y ago
  Don't worry they won't reply to this. Doesn't fit their narrative. Learning CS basics just isn't sexy enough for hacker news. Why learn anything over this.setState in React.
  - xtracto 6y ago
    I love your response because I have a PhD in Computer Science. I do LeetCode as and CodeWars problems in the mornings for fun (I like coding and helps me avoid getting rusty) and I have been a hiring manager for over 10 years. But yeah, other than the "sexiness" of CS concepts it's only because of the "narrative" we want to push.
    - mav3rick 6y ago
      So you do think Leetcode is useful ? What's up with the flex ? Congratulations on the PhD and job, I guess ?. Looks like you could definitely invert a binary tree.

abstractbarista 6y ago

Not necessarily true. Some of these most certainly have been.

mav3rick 6y ago

None of you have taken interviews at G. There's a strict edict to discard these questions. "Dev ops was too busy out counting all the street lights in the United States" If it was a Consulting interview any one would have gotten in. Thankfully no one asks these at G.