
Show HN: Coderust – Prepare for Programming Interviews - usmanghani
http://www.coderust.com
======
tejaswiy
Why do you support everything except the PC :)

As someone prepping for interviews, I'd have loved to give this a shot if it
was on the web.

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jjoonathan
Ditto. Why on earth would one want to develop on a tablet or phone? Even for
toy interview problems they make awful dev environments. Between lack of a
physical keyboard, tiny screen, slow processor, no VM support, no IDEs to
speak of, and no mature command line environment they're dead in the water. A
complete non-starter. You can't draw a diagram on them, typing symbols on them
is a mess, and they don't support screen-sharing worth a damn, even in the
stone-age sense of having two people standing side by side staring at the same
thing. As hypothetical interview tools they're literally worse than a piece of
paper or whiteboard. Which is probably why I've never seen them used as
interview tools.

It boggles my mind that the authors of this app prioritized iOS and android
support, let alone made it iOS/android exclusive. You guys had me convinced
and ready to sign up. And then I find out you don't support the platform it
makes most sense for you to support. Madness.

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_lex
This should not be an app - it should be a service, billed at $12/year (or $10
for a 3 month pass), with fresh content/languages added regularly. This would
turn your company into something potentially investable, and would give you a
steadily increasing stream of income. You'd also be able to increase the price
over time as you add more and more value to your offering.

This should also be a web app, as many people have pointed out to you. As
awesome as mobile is, web is still easier to share and convert users on, and
while everyone has a web machine, not everyone has a tablet.

~~~
lukasm
Yes! I'd pay 10$ a year for it or 8 for 2 month.

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Gracana
Sounds neat. Has anyone here tried it? I might buy it if people think it's
really good.

I've got to say though, the reviews on the google app store are getting the
side-eye from me. Lots of five star reviews that praise the features listed in
the marketing. That's not all there is to it, but I'm not quite sure how to
convey why they seem fake.. Did anyone else get that feeling?

~~~
RogerL
9 reviews and 1-5 installs.

Not sure how those numbers are generated, but I get the same feeling as you.

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Hesive
Google Play Store hasn't updated the install count since last 48 hours or so.
Flurry data is showing about 50 users for paid and about 200 users for lite
version (These numbers contain both iOS and Android installs but we are sure
that Android downloads are more than 5.

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pallandt
You should consider listing the topics it helps you cover, I think it would be
a great selling point and help convert visitors to buyers faster.

I noticed one of the slides (not the 1st) contains a blurry phone image in the
right corner with what I think might be some sort of table of contents: linked
lists, trees, stacks & queues, etc.

Perhaps to keep the description terse you could group the features using
something like: 'the most important data structures, problem-solving
heuristics and math'.

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dbaupp
Why "Code rust"? (The Rust language already has enough problems of confusion
with the Rust game.)

~~~
Gracana
I'm guessing it is "rust" as in "rusty," like "my skills are rusty, so I will
use coderust to improve them." I did click the link expecting to see something
about rust, though, so I guess it's unfortunately a little confusing.

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gameguy43
I'm building a web app that takes a similar approach (mobile-friendly, you can
expose hints as you work through the problem, etc): www.interviewcake.com.

Love to sync up and share notes. My email is in my profile.

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wnissen
I had to look at the screenshots to see if the point of this was to test you
on the questions or explain the questions. Exactly what it is could be a lot
clearer.

Actually, the other side could be really interesting. The app shows you a
problem (like the recognition of a number in a string) and shows you the unit
tests. Then you're graded based on how many you pass.

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NZSheikh
I was a bit skeptical because of the reviews. Tried the lite version and liked
it so I ended up paying. The list of questions is impressive although they can
go a bit light on the explanation.

I agree with the lack of swipe gesture.

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trekky1700
One tip cause it's a big pet peeve of mine: move the images at the top in the
a tags. That way you can click on them instead of just the text.

Looks cool, if it works and has good reviews, I'd buy it!

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mlangdon
This sort of thing could be useful. I like the format. Not wild about code
explanations with 5 clause sentences. This kind of mental juggling is what I
love about programming and reading David Foster Wallace, but the writer(s) of
the app don't write like my brain or DFW.

I'm just saying, when you are trying to make a dry subject explicable, you
need to break up the sentences and make your variable names more distinct.

~~~
Hesive
Thanks for your feedback. We agree that there is always room for improvement.
In coming versions, we will be addressing the issues in problem explanations,
fixing reported bugs and adding more problems.

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crunch_munch
Looks neat. I'd buy if it doesn't require internet. Does anyone know if
internet is needed to run the app or you can read offline?

~~~
Hesive
The app can run in offline mode. No internet connection is required.

The only time Internet is required is when you buy it from Google Play and run
the application for the first time. Connection is required to validate the
purchase with Google servers.

Internet is never required for iOS.

~~~
crunch_munch
Thanks, I'll give it a try.

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knackers
To echo some earlier comments. As someone currently preparing for an
interview, I would definitely like to see a web version.

~~~
pallandt
Can you deal with Python? This is free and available on-line as just a regular
static site.
([http://interactivepython.org/courselib/static/pythonds/index...](http://interactivepython.org/courselib/static/pythonds/index.html)).

From what I could tell, it's the full version of 'Problem Solving with
Algorithms and Data Structures Using Python 2nd ed', 2011. I haven't read it
cover to cover, but it seemed well written. You can read some reviews on the
printed version at [http://www.amazon.com/Problem-Solving-Algorithms-
Structures-...](http://www.amazon.com/Problem-Solving-Algorithms-Structures-
EDITION/dp/1590282574/)

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krstck
I bought it. I don't like the way it looks in iPad, with the column on the
right side that's cut off. I also feel like I should be able to swipe to view
it, instead of just pressing the arrow at the bottom. But, otherwise, I like
it and I think I'll use it to brush up on some fundamentals. PS, add Ruby!

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gregw134
Why do they need to know my location?

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Hesive
We are using Flurry to track usage (pretty standard among apps) and it uses
the location information to show the usage of app by Country and City.

We don't explicitly collect your location information and our privacy policy
clearly states that we don't share any information with any one.

~~~
tjohns
If it's just getting country/city data, you should only be requesting "course"
location permission. You're requesting "fine" location, which will give the
user's precise lat/long. You might want to change that.

~~~
crunch_munch
According to androidpit, they need course location. Not sure how they got this
info though.

[http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/com.hes...](http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/com.hesive.apps.coderust/Coderust)

android.permission.ACCESS_COURSE_LOCATION

*On the permissions page, it says 'fine location as well'

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hanswang2013
Selling on a $5 price for quiz question seems much more than I expected.

After all, its free material all over the internet.

Dont really expect to learn anything from a quiz, but to remind of things.

To be honest, I was quite surprised it is "Paid App".

~~~
codezero
The cost per problem is a lot lower than books that offer the same content, so
it seems reasonable.

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zxexz
1) Why is it just an app, with no option to use on the web? 2) You should
probably post more details about what this actually, well, does.

Cool concept, would love to try it out.

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hnriot
I would have bought it except I really dislike the font! It looks
unprofessional.

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alok-g
I would love to see this on Amazon Android store.

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jmcgough
any plans to support more languages?

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Hesive
Yes. We are looking for suggestions on what languages people want. Any
feedback or preferred language is appreciated.

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RomanPushkin
I love it!

