

The worst interview question ever - petewarden
http://petewarden.typepad.com/searchbrowser/2009/12/the-worst-interview-question-ever.html

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RiderOfGiraffes
Much, much discussion here:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=982237>

FWIW, I think most of the discussion is barking up the wrong tree, arguing
against a straw-man.

I explain my view here:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=982430>

In essence, when I ask questions like this I don't really care about the
answer. I care about the candidate's ability to reason, and sometimes, their
ability to change their mind.

Arguing that the question is stupid is stupid. Talk about the process.

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lec
OK I have been in this business since the late 70s. There did not exist CS
degrees back then. Managers in their zeal to convert people from diverse
disciplines into programmers devised tests to ascertain that the could think
logically.

Some of the best programmers I have encountered in my carrier started out as
Zoologists, Philosophy majors, some English Lit Majors, etc. etc. These people
were able to make complex systems run an very limited hardware because the
emphasis back then was to "Do the most with the least". Please see some of the
early Unix tools for proof of concept.

As time went by, schools started to turn the crank and started to generate CS
degrees. While this is good to a large extent, it has lead to an increase in
specialization which in my opinion is detrimental to the industry overall.

The adage "When life gives you a hammer you tend to look at all problems as if
they were nails" is an apt one, and is illustrated by the advancement of
theory over function ( please look as most Industry Popular OSs for proof of
concept ).

No longer are engineers required to "Do the most from the least", They are
conditioned to build in obsolescence in their code by requiring that the users
buy better hardware in order to accommodate the grandiose theoretical marvels.

The type of question that I have asked of the most successful programmers in
the projects I have managed are simple direct questions that probe the
individual's ability to deal logically with problems. Than explore their depth
of understanding as far as the consequences of the decisions they make.

I have worked with far too many engineers that look for esoterica where
simplicity is sufficient, and mistake density for elegance.

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clueless123
I think a lot of this trivia type questions come out of the frustration of
going through hundreds of resumes full of crap and fake crap. It is just hard
to filter out applicants out of a piece of paper.. so we "invent" tricks to
"automate" this, and then blindly apply this routine to who ever shows up.

My personal recommendation is : Past performance is the best predictor of
future performance. Look at the candidate resume, drill on the details as they
pertain your requirements and use your knowledge of the subject matter to do
the best choice.

It is _not_ rocket science.

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csbrooks
I kinda feel like, if you think the question of what "delete this" does is
esoteric, maybe c++ isn't really the language you need.

One of the biggest advantages (or disadvantages, depending on your needs) of
c++ is the direct control you have over memory management. To me, being
confused about "delete this" says you probably don't need or want that level
of control, and you probably aren't making the most of it, either.

