They're a gimmick. Startups in the valley are notorious for following these. It's based off the misguided assumption that it equates to a candidate's future qu

They're a gimmick. Startups in the valley are notorious for following these. It's based off the misguided assumption that it equates to a candidate's future quality, throughput and they can mold you into any stack. The real value comes from learning algorithms when you can actually apply them. You'll real learn things when the time comes - and self-interest in your own software / task will keep you engaged enough continue optimizing speed. If you truly were a master at o(n) this, quadratic that and shipped voluminous amounts of code - take that and apply for a quant job.