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For all the hate these interviews get, they do make you a better programmer. Before doing these problems I had no framework for thinking about how to program op

For all the hate these interviews get, they do make you a better programmer. Before doing these problems I had no framework for thinking about how to program optimally. Doing these problems helps a lot. Don't fall for the hate people give. Every selective interview process gets hate. It's extremely useful for your development as a programmer. Edit: I do think it's not good when there are bad interviewers. For example, interviewers who don't give you a chance to think, or expect you to know the perfect solution rightaway. Or just arrogant interviewers :(

spoiler 5y ago
I agree to an extent, but at my company we have hired a few very intelligent people who ace these leet code algorithmic interviews, but they're at the same time the most incompetent engineers in the company. On top of prematurely optimising code that executes once in a blue moon and creating an unnecessary maintenance burden, they also lacked any skill in designing codebases whatsoever, and generally pick the worst solution for a problem (which is sometimes detrimental to performance overall, even if the "local implemenation" is great) Most of my refactoring nightmare situations were caused by leetcoders. Maybw it's just anecdotal, but in my experience there's been a strong correlation. Also an aside: they tend to be quite a bit snobby/circlejerky and vastly overestimate their skills. IMO, leetcoding is a skill but not the most important one. And also, once you start approaching software as design/engineering, the leetcode will start coming gradually and naturally to you.
- Google234 5y ago
  Sounds like typical junior engineers.
  - spoiler 5y ago
    You might be right, but in some cases they've been "stuck" as junior for longer than they should, then.
ozim 5y ago
I don't hate selective interview process. I hate it when interviewer is an asshole. Somehow in my experience companies that have 'Leetcode' or that kind of thing in process have interviewer that is an asshole. If someone thinks he is better than me just because he is in a position to ask questions, well that leaves me frustrated for the rest of the day after interview. It is specially frustrating when you already have the experience, I am now almost 10 years and a senior dev and I cannot really put up with it. When I was a junior trying to find any job I was not offended at all, but I still remember all bad interviews.
- Kim_Bruning 5y ago
  For quick comparison, Wwat's your opinion on fizzbuzz?
  - ozim 5y ago
    I don't mind solving fizzbuzz, I don't mind take home assignments. They don't know me and besides my CV they have to see that I can write code or see that I can use a computer. I can invest up to 2h into some task if I am switching jobs and offer/company is interesting for me. For some specialistic roles I don't mind questions about specific technologies, just keep in mind that for example "Web Development" spans so many topics that we might have vastly different experience and questions that you ask or the way you ask them might not connect to my experience. That is why it should be more of a discussion to try to find out common understanding than grill:quizz, shooting question and 0.5s answer.
  - sergiotapia 5y ago
    Fizzbuzz is laughable, I don't like Leetcode and now that I'm in charge of hiring, I don't do Leetcode. But fizzbuzz is truly the lowest of the low bars you can pass. You could even do it in a language you have never ever written before.
- seestraw 5y ago
  Yes, completely agree with this. There's so many bad interviewers out there, and sadly many are really arrogant too. However, in my experience, most interviewers are not like that. But even one bad interviewer leaves a really foul taste.
hocuspocus 5y ago
> Before doing these problems I had no framework for thinking about how to program optimally. You didn't study CS in school? > It's extremely useful for your development as a programmer. Can you give some concrete example?
- seestraw 5y ago
  "You didn't study CS in school?" Quite an entitled comment. Studying CS in school doesn't mean you've learned everything there is while practicing programming. Yes, you learn these skills on the job, but doing programming interview questions helped me learn skills too.
  - hocuspocus 5y ago
    It's not an entitled comment, it's a genuine question. If you claim you "had no framework" you need to explain why. The point of any CS curriculum is just that, providing you with a framework (which should ideally be a balance of theoretical and practical knowledge). It doesn't teach you the job. Neither do leetcode questions.
    - seestraw 5y ago
      Sorry if I misunderstood. I don't think most CS curriculums teach you analyzing programs and writing them efficiently. My data structures and algorithms classes were great but still not enough practical knowledge to implement programs day to day. On top of that, there was practically no code review. I don't think there's enough time for professors and TAs to analyze your code and tell you if this is a good way of doing things or is it clean or will it waste a lot of memory.
      - hocuspocus 5y ago
        Still, leetcode might teach you to write code that passes time and memory constraints, but it certainly won't teach you how to write clean code that passes a code review.

spoiler 5y ago

I agree to an extent, but at my company we have hired a few very intelligent people who ace these leet code algorithmic interviews, but they're at the same time the most incompetent engineers in the company. On top of prematurely optimising code that executes once in a blue moon and creating an unnecessary maintenance burden, they also lacked any skill in designing codebases whatsoever, and generally pick the worst solution for a problem (which is sometimes detrimental to performance overall, even if the "local implemenation" is great) Most of my refactoring nightmare situations were caused by leetcoders. Maybw it's just anecdotal, but in my experience there's been a strong correlation. Also an aside: they tend to be quite a bit snobby/circlejerky and vastly overestimate their skills. IMO, leetcoding is a skill but not the most important one. And also, once you start approaching software as design/engineering, the leetcode will start coming gradually and naturally to you.

Google234 5y ago
Sounds like typical junior engineers.
- spoiler 5y ago
  You might be right, but in some cases they've been "stuck" as junior for longer than they should, then.

ozim 5y ago

I don't hate selective interview process. I hate it when interviewer is an asshole. Somehow in my experience companies that have 'Leetcode' or that kind of thing in process have interviewer that is an asshole. If someone thinks he is better than me just because he is in a position to ask questions, well that leaves me frustrated for the rest of the day after interview. It is specially frustrating when you already have the experience, I am now almost 10 years and a senior dev and I cannot really put up with it. When I was a junior trying to find any job I was not offended at all, but I still remember all bad interviews.

Kim_Bruning 5y ago
For quick comparison, Wwat's your opinion on fizzbuzz?
- ozim 5y ago
  I don't mind solving fizzbuzz, I don't mind take home assignments. They don't know me and besides my CV they have to see that I can write code or see that I can use a computer. I can invest up to 2h into some task if I am switching jobs and offer/company is interesting for me. For some specialistic roles I don't mind questions about specific technologies, just keep in mind that for example "Web Development" spans so many topics that we might have vastly different experience and questions that you ask or the way you ask them might not connect to my experience. That is why it should be more of a discussion to try to find out common understanding than grill:quizz, shooting question and 0.5s answer.
- sergiotapia 5y ago
  Fizzbuzz is laughable, I don't like Leetcode and now that I'm in charge of hiring, I don't do Leetcode. But fizzbuzz is truly the lowest of the low bars you can pass. You could even do it in a language you have never ever written before.
seestraw 5y ago
Yes, completely agree with this. There's so many bad interviewers out there, and sadly many are really arrogant too. However, in my experience, most interviewers are not like that. But even one bad interviewer leaves a really foul taste.

hocuspocus 5y ago

> Before doing these problems I had no framework for thinking about how to program optimally. You didn't study CS in school? > It's extremely useful for your development as a programmer. Can you give some concrete example?

seestraw 5y ago
"You didn't study CS in school?" Quite an entitled comment. Studying CS in school doesn't mean you've learned everything there is while practicing programming. Yes, you learn these skills on the job, but doing programming interview questions helped me learn skills too.
- hocuspocus 5y ago
  It's not an entitled comment, it's a genuine question. If you claim you "had no framework" you need to explain why. The point of any CS curriculum is just that, providing you with a framework (which should ideally be a balance of theoretical and practical knowledge). It doesn't teach you the job. Neither do leetcode questions.
  - seestraw 5y ago
    Sorry if I misunderstood. I don't think most CS curriculums teach you analyzing programs and writing them efficiently. My data structures and algorithms classes were great but still not enough practical knowledge to implement programs day to day. On top of that, there was practically no code review. I don't think there's enough time for professors and TAs to analyze your code and tell you if this is a good way of doing things or is it clean or will it waste a lot of memory.
    - hocuspocus 5y ago
      Still, leetcode might teach you to write code that passes time and memory constraints, but it certainly won't teach you how to write clean code that passes a code review.