3 ms·

A degree to learn data structures and algorithms would be a massive waste. I think I had 2 classes that focused on them

• oriolid 5y ago
  I think the idea of the algorithm interview is to see if you were awake in class while getting the degree and whether you can think on your feet. For other classes it's more difficult to come up with questions that aim for the same.
  • jolux 5y ago
    What algorithms courses are we even talking about? I dropped out after sophomore year but I still took data structures and algorithms, and a lot of the stuff I see people mention getting quizzed on at Google (I saw convex hulls in another thread on here) is 400-level, elective courses in these topics. The last object we studied in DS&A was graphs and graph algorithms, which I can handle just fine.
    • oriolid 5y ago
      The ones you take before dropping out and starting a job, obviously.
      • jolux 5y ago
        Can’t tell if you’re being facetious or not but my point was that not even every CS major would have taken this course (and learned about these structures) by the time they had finished, so it doesn’t quite seem reasonable to expect it as core knowledge for CS graduates, unless you want to select for graduating from a particular school.
• raydev 5y ago
  But didn't you have classes where some subset popped up again and again? That's why I still encourage people to pursue a Bachelors degree over bootcamp if they have minimal programming experience prior to going to school. If I'd taken only the "intro to ds" and only "intro to algos" courses to get my degree I would've been poorly equipped to start my first job, since that was the first time I'd seen those concepts.