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While I'm not complaining that people are realizing they're dead... why is ChatGPT the final straw for those ridiculous "make a binary tree" questions? Why was

While I'm not complaining that people are realizing they're dead... why is ChatGPT the final straw for those ridiculous "make a binary tree" questions? Why wasn't it the fact that these questions became such a gameable system, that we started referring to them by the copyrighted name of a site where you can access nearly every permutation that will ever be asked of you, along with extremely detailed solutions with rationale: https://leetcode.com/ https://leetcode.com/ It's crazy to me that of everything that ChatGPT can do, regurgitating well known answers to well known interview questions is what kills anything off...

dinkumthinkum 4y ago
I mean if you can’t make a binary tree, what do you really know about programming? If ChatGPT is so great, why would even need a job interview, why not just eliminate the jobs altogether?
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  You know, the only thing I get more sure of over the years is that defining a "good programmer" is hard Now, I can't tell if you're being facetious or not, but if one seriously conflates being able to write a binary tree with knowing how to program... they're at least making defining the antonym a bit easier. - Also no one is saying ChatGPT is "so great" in this specific case, if anything the point is that ChatGPT can do impressive things, but again, regurgitating leetcode answers isn't one of them.
  - dinkumthinkum 4y ago
    I’m not trying to be mean but “conflating” is not the same as “necessary.” There is a very common notion of “necessary but not sufficient”. Yes, I think if you don’t know how to make a binary tree, you don’t know much about programming. The converse is not true.
- psyklic 4y ago
  I view general algorithm problems as a "programming subfield", just like graphics/frontend/AI are. Certain coding techniques are overrepresented in each subfield, and each subfield has fundamental "base code", design paradigms, methods of testing, need-to-know algorithms, and canonical examples.

dinkumthinkum 4y ago

I mean if you can’t make a binary tree, what do you really know about programming? If ChatGPT is so great, why would even need a job interview, why not just eliminate the jobs altogether?

BoorishBears 4y ago
You know, the only thing I get more sure of over the years is that defining a "good programmer" is hard Now, I can't tell if you're being facetious or not, but if one seriously conflates being able to write a binary tree with knowing how to program... they're at least making defining the antonym a bit easier. - Also no one is saying ChatGPT is "so great" in this specific case, if anything the point is that ChatGPT can do impressive things, but again, regurgitating leetcode answers isn't one of them.
- dinkumthinkum 4y ago
  I’m not trying to be mean but “conflating” is not the same as “necessary.” There is a very common notion of “necessary but not sufficient”. Yes, I think if you don’t know how to make a binary tree, you don’t know much about programming. The converse is not true.
psyklic 4y ago
I view general algorithm problems as a "programming subfield", just like graphics/frontend/AI are. Certain coding techniques are overrepresented in each subfield, and each subfield has fundamental "base code", design paradigms, methods of testing, need-to-know algorithms, and canonical examples.