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So I had my first coding interview the other day

  1. #1
    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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  2. #2
    Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Dark Matter [my scoffingly uncritical tinning]
    Thanks for sharing. I need to prepare for these sorts of interviews, long term. Interviewing well is a skill in and off itself.
  3. #3
    L41n Houston
    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.
  4. #4
    Shut up lainney
  5. #5
    L41n Houston
    Originally posted by DietPiano Shut up lainney

    No.
  6. #6
    Originally posted by DietPiano Shut up lainney



    Originally posted by DietPiano Shut up lainney



    Originally posted by DietPiano Shut up lainney
  7. #7
    GAAAAALM African Astronaut
    Originally posted by Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Thanks for sharing. I need to prepare for these sorts of interviews, long term. Interviewing well is a skill in and off itself.

    I guess it's good that I'm just naturally charming. I have never not been offered a job.
  8. #8
    Shut up §m£ÂgØL
  9. #9
    GAAAAALM African Astronaut
    Originally posted by frala Shut up §m£ÂgØL

    Awww little benzo redneck mad?
  10. #10
    HELL YEAH
  11. #11
    Oh and also good luck Zooks even if you end up not at this place :)
  12. #12
    zok jr. Houston
    hmmm programming, how quaint. im more of a bare metal guy myself
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  13. #13
    aldra JIDF Controlled Opposition
    Originally posted by zok jr. hmmm programming, how quaint. im more of a bare metal guy myself

    null

    terminator
  14. #14
    zok jr. Houston
    i once accidentally soldered my dick to my hand
  15. #15
    aldra JIDF Controlled Opposition
    I have a LOT of soldering burns from building random shit on xanax
  16. #16
    zok jr. Houston
    Originally posted by aldra I have a LOT of soldering burns from building random shit on xanax

    i thought i was the only one
  17. #17
    Ghost Black Hole
    professionalism is gay
  18. #18
    zok jr. Houston
    is being on drugs while at work considered professional>?
  19. #19
    SPLAT Houston
    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....
  20. #20
    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.
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