5 ms·

Explain your reasoning, and I will explain mine. While some of the leetcode questions have tedious edge cases and ambiguous logic, there is no doubt in my mind

by fridif 5y ago

Explain your reasoning, and I will explain mine. While some of the leetcode questions have tedious edge cases and ambiguous logic, there is no doubt in my mind that lists, trees, arrays, queues, maps, graphs, sorting, binary searching, and memoization are crucial for being an amazing programmer

andrew_ 5y ago
If you truly believe that the measure of amazing programmer is churning out bullshit exercises on a timed call, I can only state that I'm thankful we don't work together. It's incredibly audacious gate-keeping and I'd dare say, discriminatory. It ignores disabilities, social adjustment conditions, etc that wouldn't impact daily work. I know too many incredible engineers that don't think in the way that those timed exercises require, and these folks are wildly talented and wildly successful.
- fridif 5y ago
  I do agree with you that the system blocks more people than it should. Personally, I think there should be many more apprenticeships than there are currently. There are many technical roles that can be fulfilled by people of all backgrounds. But, for the most serious roles, there needs to be skill scrutiny and performance under pressure. Think of the difference between a performing artist and a music teacher. Both are vital roles and have related but distinct skill sets. The performing artist must have everything drilled and ready to go on stage, much like a heart surgeon shouldn't be doing research on the operating table.
  - andrew_ 5y ago
    Are we going to ask a symphonic performer to produce scales during an interview, a heart surgeon to suture a laceration? We would not, it would be insulting for a myriad of reasons.
    - fridif 5y ago
      If a symphonic performer can't run through some scales, or a doctor cant suture a laceration, I would say that is indicative of a major problem. If you owned a restaurant, would you hire a hostess that couldn't operate a telephone, or a cook that couldn't turn on a stove? Similarly I wouldn't hire a programmer that could not turn an array into a linked list.
      - andrew_ 5y ago
        To quote my original comment: > I can only state that I'm thankful we don't work together I truly pity the folks that have to interview with you.
  - confidantlake 5y ago
    The vast majority of software jobs do not need performance artist skills. Most of the pressure is deadline pressure, not "stage" pressure.
    - fridif 5y ago
      Say that you own an auto repair facility. You have 10 mechanics who have applied, and all ten have previous experience on their resume. How would you interview them, so as to choose the best candidate the first time?
      - confidantlake 5y ago
        I won't have a great answer since I have no experience in the area. But I would probably ask them to repair something, leave them alone and come back in 2 hours. Pick the mechanic that repaired it the best. I would not stare over their shoulder while they worked. For the music teacher I would have them record the piece, and send in the best take. I wouldn't demand they get on stage and play the piece.

by fridif 5y ago

andrew_ 5y ago

If you truly believe that the measure of amazing programmer is churning out bullshit exercises on a timed call, I can only state that I'm thankful we don't work together. It's incredibly audacious gate-keeping and I'd dare say, discriminatory. It ignores disabilities, social adjustment conditions, etc that wouldn't impact daily work. I know too many incredible engineers that don't think in the way that those timed exercises require, and these folks are wildly talented and wildly successful.

fridif 5y ago
I do agree with you that the system blocks more people than it should. Personally, I think there should be many more apprenticeships than there are currently. There are many technical roles that can be fulfilled by people of all backgrounds. But, for the most serious roles, there needs to be skill scrutiny and performance under pressure. Think of the difference between a performing artist and a music teacher. Both are vital roles and have related but distinct skill sets. The performing artist must have everything drilled and ready to go on stage, much like a heart surgeon shouldn't be doing research on the operating table.
- andrew_ 5y ago
  Are we going to ask a symphonic performer to produce scales during an interview, a heart surgeon to suture a laceration? We would not, it would be insulting for a myriad of reasons.
  - fridif 5y ago
    If a symphonic performer can't run through some scales, or a doctor cant suture a laceration, I would say that is indicative of a major problem. If you owned a restaurant, would you hire a hostess that couldn't operate a telephone, or a cook that couldn't turn on a stove? Similarly I wouldn't hire a programmer that could not turn an array into a linked list.
    - andrew_ 5y ago
      To quote my original comment: > I can only state that I'm thankful we don't work together I truly pity the folks that have to interview with you.
- confidantlake 5y ago
  The vast majority of software jobs do not need performance artist skills. Most of the pressure is deadline pressure, not "stage" pressure.
  - fridif 5y ago
    Say that you own an auto repair facility. You have 10 mechanics who have applied, and all ten have previous experience on their resume. How would you interview them, so as to choose the best candidate the first time?
    - confidantlake 5y ago
      I won't have a great answer since I have no experience in the area. But I would probably ask them to repair something, leave them alone and come back in 2 hours. Pick the mechanic that repaired it the best. I would not stare over their shoulder while they worked. For the music teacher I would have them record the piece, and send in the best take. I wouldn't demand they get on stage and play the piece.