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I don’t get why people always hate on leetcodes. Anyone can train and get good at it, it makes interviews short and not time consuming, it’s a standard accros

by hcks 3y ago

I don’t get why people always hate on leetcodes. Anyone can train and get good at it, it makes interviews short and not time consuming, it’s a standard accros industry so you can focus on studying it and not have to read one book for each company you apply to. What would be a better alternative? Hiring based on connections? Take home assignments that takes 15 hours to complete? Domain specific knowledge grilling?

codeTired 3y ago
Because adults with hobbies and families have better things to do. How is this so hard to grasp? Bonus is that 90% of devs literally will not use most of that knowledge. My biggest problems are getting requirements, understanding the problem, working around a legacy system or deciphering old code, not actually writing code when requirements and documentation is on point.
- brigadier132 3y ago
  > Because adults with hobbies and families have better things to do If you really valued your time you would spend a week studying for the interview that gives you a 50pct or more increase in salary so you can work that many fewer years
  - codeTired 3y ago
    I never said I didn’t grind or I won’t grind to move up. It doesn’t change my opinion.
  - harryquach 3y ago
    To be fair grinding Leetcode to the point of proficiency takes longer than a week. With that said I agree on your other point, putting in the work and sacrificing time, even months, will pay dividends long-term with a salary that allows someone to retire early.
    - wishpishh 3y ago
      If you are willing to spend your younger, healthier years grinding just to (potentially, there are so many things that are outside of your control that can go wrong no matter your work ethic) get a few more years of retirement at the end of your life - then sure. Grind away.
      - Jensson 3y ago
        You can work 80% and still earn more, so you have more time your whole life.
      - pedrosorio 3y ago
        These interviews are not designed to require "spending your younger, healthier years grinding". They require grokking a fairly small set of concepts and being comfortable using them to problem solve under time pressure. That's it. Hearing some people, you'd think they ask you to memorize chess openings or something.
        popularonion 3y ago
        That's because it is memorizing chess openings, or basically the same thing. Most Leetcode Mediums fall into the category where the type of solution is obvious (sliding window/graph search/etc), and the code isn't hard to write, but there's a "trick" embedded in the problem and if you don't already know the trick, you're never going to figure it out in 30 minutes. So the best strategy is to find a "Top N Leetcodes" list like Blind 75 and just memorize them. Of course you can't expect those exact questions to come up in every interview, but having a few dozen solutions already memorized should let you do some pattern recognition and lower your cognitive load while you're trying to figure out what that problem's trick is.
        pedrosorio 3y ago
        > Most Leetcode Mediums (...) there's a "trick" embedded in the problem and if you don't already know the trick, you're never going to figure it out in 30 minutes I am sorry to say, this is just not true. > but having a few dozen solutions already memorized should let you do some pattern recognition Chess opening memorization is pure "remember the moves, play the moves" that's it. No thinking or pattern recognition involved. If this is about being able to solve problems by generalizing from having seen a few dozen solutions, then I don't think "memorizing" is the appropriate term here, at all.
  - Apocryphon 3y ago
    But it still feels wrong if progression is measured by an arbitrary measure orthogonal to what one actually does in one's career, no?
    - Jensson 3y ago
      Leetcode isn't progression, it is changing to a better track. Progress on that track doesn't require leetcode, just entering it.
      - Apocryphon 3y ago
        In the context of this conversation we are discussing Leetcode as the status quo primary means of passing interviews for new, higher-paying jobs at FAANG-equivalent companies, as career advancement.
62951413 3y ago
Surely you'd find something to discuss about one's previous twenty years of building software. Especially if the last ten years have been in the same domain. Somehow it all worked just fine before 2010 or so. Also, one's tolerance for silly things and short-term memory for useless puzzles don't increase with age. You know you live in a clown world when memorizing nonsense makes one more employable than learning some front-end stuff to be a little more full-stacky.
OnionBlender 3y ago
One problem is that they keep making the leetcode interviews harder because many people spend a lot of practicing. Simply solving a problem isn't good enough anymore. Now you have to solve two problems in 40-45 minutes with the optimal solution. The only way I've been able to solve two problems in 40-45 minutes is if I've seen the problem before.
sgarland 3y ago
> Domain specific knowledge grilling? Why would you not do this? If I’m hiring for a specific role, I want to make sure they are good at that role. Doubly so if their resume states they’re an expert at something - let’s find out. This doesn’t need to be hostile or one-upping, but to prove someone’s actual depth of knowledge in an area they claim to have expertise in.

by hcks 3y ago

codeTired 3y ago

Because adults with hobbies and families have better things to do. How is this so hard to grasp? Bonus is that 90% of devs literally will not use most of that knowledge. My biggest problems are getting requirements, understanding the problem, working around a legacy system or deciphering old code, not actually writing code when requirements and documentation is on point.

brigadier132 3y ago
> Because adults with hobbies and families have better things to do If you really valued your time you would spend a week studying for the interview that gives you a 50pct or more increase in salary so you can work that many fewer years
- codeTired 3y ago
  I never said I didn’t grind or I won’t grind to move up. It doesn’t change my opinion.
- harryquach 3y ago
  To be fair grinding Leetcode to the point of proficiency takes longer than a week. With that said I agree on your other point, putting in the work and sacrificing time, even months, will pay dividends long-term with a salary that allows someone to retire early.
  - wishpishh 3y ago
    If you are willing to spend your younger, healthier years grinding just to (potentially, there are so many things that are outside of your control that can go wrong no matter your work ethic) get a few more years of retirement at the end of your life - then sure. Grind away.
    - Jensson 3y ago
      You can work 80% and still earn more, so you have more time your whole life.
    - pedrosorio 3y ago
      These interviews are not designed to require "spending your younger, healthier years grinding". They require grokking a fairly small set of concepts and being comfortable using them to problem solve under time pressure. That's it. Hearing some people, you'd think they ask you to memorize chess openings or something.
      - popularonion 3y ago
        That's because it is memorizing chess openings, or basically the same thing. Most Leetcode Mediums fall into the category where the type of solution is obvious (sliding window/graph search/etc), and the code isn't hard to write, but there's a "trick" embedded in the problem and if you don't already know the trick, you're never going to figure it out in 30 minutes. So the best strategy is to find a "Top N Leetcodes" list like Blind 75 and just memorize them. Of course you can't expect those exact questions to come up in every interview, but having a few dozen solutions already memorized should let you do some pattern recognition and lower your cognitive load while you're trying to figure out what that problem's trick is.
        pedrosorio 3y ago
        > Most Leetcode Mediums (...) there's a "trick" embedded in the problem and if you don't already know the trick, you're never going to figure it out in 30 minutes I am sorry to say, this is just not true. > but having a few dozen solutions already memorized should let you do some pattern recognition Chess opening memorization is pure "remember the moves, play the moves" that's it. No thinking or pattern recognition involved. If this is about being able to solve problems by generalizing from having seen a few dozen solutions, then I don't think "memorizing" is the appropriate term here, at all.
- Apocryphon 3y ago
  But it still feels wrong if progression is measured by an arbitrary measure orthogonal to what one actually does in one's career, no?
  - Jensson 3y ago
    Leetcode isn't progression, it is changing to a better track. Progress on that track doesn't require leetcode, just entering it.
    - Apocryphon 3y ago
      In the context of this conversation we are discussing Leetcode as the status quo primary means of passing interviews for new, higher-paying jobs at FAANG-equivalent companies, as career advancement.

62951413 3y ago

Surely you'd find something to discuss about one's previous twenty years of building software. Especially if the last ten years have been in the same domain. Somehow it all worked just fine before 2010 or so. Also, one's tolerance for silly things and short-term memory for useless puzzles don't increase with age. You know you live in a clown world when memorizing nonsense makes one more employable than learning some front-end stuff to be a little more full-stacky.

OnionBlender 3y ago

One problem is that they keep making the leetcode interviews harder because many people spend a lot of practicing. Simply solving a problem isn't good enough anymore. Now you have to solve two problems in 40-45 minutes with the optimal solution. The only way I've been able to solve two problems in 40-45 minutes is if I've seen the problem before.

sgarland 3y ago

> Domain specific knowledge grilling? Why would you not do this? If I’m hiring for a specific role, I want to make sure they are good at that role. Doubly so if their resume states they’re an expert at something - let’s find out. This doesn’t need to be hostile or one-upping, but to prove someone’s actual depth of knowledge in an area they claim to have expertise in.