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disagree. nobody has a monopoly on what metric makes someone good. I don't understand all this leet code optimization. actually i do understand it, but it's a g

by apsurd 9mo ago

disagree. nobody has a monopoly on what metric makes someone good. I don't understand all this leet code optimization. actually i do understand it, but it's a game that will attract game optimizers. the hot take is, there are other games.

sevenzero 9mo ago
Also leetcode does not really provide insight into ones ability to design business solutions. Whether it be system design, just some small feature implementation or communication skills within a team. Its just optimizers jerking each other off on some cryptic problems 99.999999999% of developers will never see in real life. Maybe it would've been useful like 30 years ago, but all commonly used languages have all these fancy algorithms baked into their stdlib, why would I ever have to implement them myself?
- thorncorona 9mo ago
  Or more likely, the commonality is how you're applying your software skills? In every other field it's helpful to understand the basics. I don't think software is the exception here.
  - sevenzero 9mo ago
    Understanding basics is very different to being able to memorize algorithms. I really dont see why I'd ever have to implement stuff like quicksort myself somewhere. Yes I know what recursion is, yes I know what quick sort is, so if I ever need it I know what to look for. Which was good enough throughout my career.
- lbreakjai 9mo ago
  But this is an interview problem at Anthropic, not at your local CRUD factory. They _are_ looking for the optimizers, because they _are_ working on cryptic problems the 99.9999% of us will never encounter.
saagarjha 9mo ago
This is explicitly not Leetcode, in fact its goal is to attract optimizers
tuetuopay 9mo ago
This is the opposite of leet code. Yes, this applies to some simulated imaginary CPU with an artificial problem. Except that the job asked here is exactly the core of what a performance engineer will do at anthropic: optimize kernels for their fleet of GPUs. Is it simplified? Yes! (e.g. the simulator does not restrict memory access patterns) This is a real-world problem adapted to a lab setting that can fit in one's head in a matter of hours. Leetcode would have you reimplement the hashmap used in there.

by apsurd 9mo ago

sevenzero 9mo ago

Also leetcode does not really provide insight into ones ability to design business solutions. Whether it be system design, just some small feature implementation or communication skills within a team. Its just optimizers jerking each other off on some cryptic problems 99.999999999% of developers will never see in real life. Maybe it would've been useful like 30 years ago, but all commonly used languages have all these fancy algorithms baked into their stdlib, why would I ever have to implement them myself?

thorncorona 9mo ago
Or more likely, the commonality is how you're applying your software skills? In every other field it's helpful to understand the basics. I don't think software is the exception here.
- sevenzero 9mo ago
  Understanding basics is very different to being able to memorize algorithms. I really dont see why I'd ever have to implement stuff like quicksort myself somewhere. Yes I know what recursion is, yes I know what quick sort is, so if I ever need it I know what to look for. Which was good enough throughout my career.
lbreakjai 9mo ago
But this is an interview problem at Anthropic, not at your local CRUD factory. They _are_ looking for the optimizers, because they _are_ working on cryptic problems the 99.9999% of us will never encounter.

saagarjha 9mo ago

This is explicitly not Leetcode, in fact its goal is to attract optimizers

tuetuopay 9mo ago

This is the opposite of leet code. Yes, this applies to some simulated imaginary CPU with an artificial problem. Except that the job asked here is exactly the core of what a performance engineer will do at anthropic: optimize kernels for their fleet of GPUs. Is it simplified? Yes! (e.g. the simulator does not restrict memory access patterns) This is a real-world problem adapted to a lab setting that can fit in one's head in a matter of hours. Leetcode would have you reimplement the hashmap used in there.