Seriously. I feel like complaining about hiring for programmers is the #1 topic discussed on HN.
I actually feel like algorithm questions are somewhat of an improvement in the programmer hiring process over the alternatives. When interviewing at places that don't have them, the surface area of questions you can be asked is so much bigger.
Like one of the anecdotes in this thread about getting drilled on a testing framework (that the candidate probably added to their resume because they have to have all these keywords to make it through their automated resume scanner and maybe they only played with it for a couple hours one afternoon because they don't use it in their day job.)
With algorithmic questions:
- You're doing one type of preparation for a large amount of potential roles
- There's tons and tons and tons of great material out there to help you prepare
- Probably most controversial but I really believe it: It really does make you a stronger programmer.
For me, doing those kind of questions forced me to learn data structures more thoroughly and dramatically improved my understanding of how to write algorithms and think about performance. This stuff really does matter in terms of code quality and it really bothers me that it's always portrayed as these completely silly puzzles.
The other thing that I see pushed a lot in these discussions is this idea that every company (or most companies) that hires programmers does these exercises. That's just not true. If you're getting coderpad links for every phone screen, you're going after a certain type of company.
I actually feel like algorithm questions are somewhat of an improvement in the programmer hiring process over the alternatives. When interviewing at places that don't have them, the surface area of questions you can be asked is so much bigger.
Like one of the anecdotes in this thread about getting drilled on a testing framework (that the candidate probably added to their resume because they have to have all these keywords to make it through their automated resume scanner and maybe they only played with it for a couple hours one afternoon because they don't use it in their day job.)
With algorithmic questions: - You're doing one type of preparation for a large amount of potential roles - There's tons and tons and tons of great material out there to help you prepare - Probably most controversial but I really believe it: It really does make you a stronger programmer.
For me, doing those kind of questions forced me to learn data structures more thoroughly and dramatically improved my understanding of how to write algorithms and think about performance. This stuff really does matter in terms of code quality and it really bothers me that it's always portrayed as these completely silly puzzles.
The other thing that I see pushed a lot in these discussions is this idea that every company (or most companies) that hires programmers does these exercises. That's just not true. If you're getting coderpad links for every phone screen, you're going after a certain type of company.