2019-10-16 at 8:25 PM UTC
gadzooks
Dark Matter
[keratinize my mild-tasting blossoming]
Somewhat to my surprise, it follows the exact pattern that everyone talks about.
I brushed up on my data structure and algorithm knowledge, but there is a lot of potentially relevant shit.
I read somewhere that maybe 5 sorting algorithms, and hash tables and linked lists, are the majority of what you need to know.
And big O notation, of course.
So I prepared for all of that.
Interview comes around, and, just as I had prepared for, questions about hash tables and some simple sorting algorithms came up.
But, I completely drew a blank when he mentioned binary search...
I just flat out forgot how it works.
I'm thinking out loud... "Is that the one where you divide the list up somehow? I just... I don't know right now... I can't Google it right quick, can I?"
He says "no, that won't be necessary."
Then he tells me that I have access to a reference, but not the data it refers to, so I say "okay, like a pointer then?"
He says "yes, exactly."
So I, thinking out loud, say "ok, so I have access to the physical memory address that tells me where the actual data is, what am I doing with it?"
Then this nigga is all like "just tell me what you have access to" or some shit.
So I tell him "I have a sequence of numbers that indicates where in memory this particular piece of data is stored... I don't understand what real world scenario I'm in."
And he tells me it's okay, and we move onto the next question.
This whole bullshit of having to rote memorize a bunch of shit that literally any developer understands conceptually on some level is literally retarded.
And, how often in the real world do you have scenarios like these interview questions?
Am I not allowed to quickly Google some shit on the job?
So I forgot that binary search is the one where you progressively divide an array into smaller arrays...
I know how to code the goddamn algorithm, I just forgot what it's called.
Fucking bitch ass niggas.
Suck all ten of my dicks.
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Thanks for sharing. I need to prepare for these sorts of interviews, long term. Interviewing well is a skill in and off itself.
2019-10-16 at 11:17 PM UTC
You probably don't want to work there anyway.
Unless the position you were applying for really requires serious CS chops it's stupid to grill people about trivia.
Sounds like they maybe were trying to get you to reason out how a binary search would work or see how much you could remember. It doesn't really matter what elements are in an array for a binary search just that they are sort-able and in order. The algorithm just checks whether an item is "greater", "lesser", or "equal" than what you're looking for, so for the purposes of describing it that's all you need to know.
2019-10-16 at 11:41 PM UTC
frala
Avant garde shartist
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2019-10-16 at 11:46 PM UTC
frala
Avant garde shartist
Oh and also good luck Zooks even if you end up not at this place :)
2019-10-18 at 5:11 AM UTC
hmmm programming, how quaint. im more of a bare metal guy myself
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2019-10-18 at 5:17 AM UTC
i once accidentally soldered my dick to my hand
2019-10-18 at 5:18 AM UTC
aldra
JIDF Controlled Opposition
I have a LOT of soldering burns from building random shit on xanax
2019-10-18 at 5:29 AM UTC
is being on drugs while at work considered professional>?
2019-10-18 at 5:53 AM UTC
I think you should expect them to grill you on whatever they want and if you want the job bad enough you’re either ready or not....
2019-10-18 at 6:02 AM UTC
the next time you come across this situation ask whats the relevance of asking something that can be googled in an interview and then asks if googling is forbidden at work.
