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GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
kmoorevs24-Sep-20 5:39
kmoorevs24-Sep-20 5:39 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 7:37
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 7:37 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
sgtobin24-Sep-20 6:00
sgtobin24-Sep-20 6:00 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 7:38
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 7:38 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
patbob24-Sep-20 6:20
patbob24-Sep-20 6:20 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 7:41
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 7:41 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
abmv24-Sep-20 7:57
professionalabmv24-Sep-20 7:57 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
SeattleC++24-Sep-20 8:15
SeattleC++24-Sep-20 8:15 
First off, a reasonably obvious solution to the coding problem is to move nonzero elements down, and then set the remaining elements to zero. It uses one array, makes one pass, and moves each element at most one time. It was the first thing that came to my mind. There is an STL algorithm, remove(), that does most of the work, but I would have needed to look it up. If you say "I think there is an STL algorithm for this," it covers all bases whether the interviewer wants you to know the algorithm or wants you to code it by hand. It's just barely possible that in spite of your experience, you aren't a great coder, in which case the coding test worked exactly as expected.

Second, who are you to say what the best interviewing technique is? Do you have any data to back up your claim that coding interviews are broken? I hate coding tests too, but I have come to respect them:
  • They catch people who are lying on their resumes. If you've ever done hiring, you know that's a big problem.
  • They catch self-taught people who skipped over algorithms and data structures, if that is important to your company.
  • They select people who prepped for the interview, people who really want the job.
  • Over-training on algorithms for software devs is exactly like over-training on anatomy and physiology for physicians, or over-training on procedures for pilots and astronauts. It's not enough just to have seen an algorithm (or an organ, or a procedure), you need to be able to call that memory immediately to mind, even under stress situations. Coding tests select people who have really dug in and studied. and rejects people who coasted.
If you are a top company paying $200k for an engineer, this is the kind of engineer you want. If you are just writing CRUD screens, maybe this is overkill, but hey, every company wants a 10x developer if they can find one.

If you are a developer of a certain age, like me, you resent coding tests because they didn't used to be required. If you are a recent grad, the knowledge that you have to run a gauntlet of coding tests is baked into your expectations. Times change old man. Get used to it.
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 8:38
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 8:38 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 8:43
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 8:43 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
SeattleC++24-Sep-20 9:29
SeattleC++24-Sep-20 9:29 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 9:46
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 9:46 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
B Alex Robinson24-Sep-20 9:36
B Alex Robinson24-Sep-20 9:36 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Jeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 9:48
professionalJeremy Falcon24-Sep-20 9:48 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
willichan24-Sep-20 10:15
professionalwillichan24-Sep-20 10:15 
GeneralRe: 25 years of programming reduced to a question. Pin
Dean Goddard29-Sep-20 14:40
Dean Goddard29-Sep-20 14:40 
GeneralWSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
OriginalGriff23-Sep-20 1:42
mveOriginalGriff23-Sep-20 1:42 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
Sandeep Mewara23-Sep-20 1:49
mveSandeep Mewara23-Sep-20 1:49 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
OriginalGriff23-Sep-20 1:52
mveOriginalGriff23-Sep-20 1:52 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
Sandeep Mewara23-Sep-20 2:11
mveSandeep Mewara23-Sep-20 2:11 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
OriginalGriff23-Sep-20 2:24
mveOriginalGriff23-Sep-20 2:24 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
jsc4223-Sep-20 2:56
professionaljsc4223-Sep-20 2:56 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
OriginalGriff23-Sep-20 3:05
mveOriginalGriff23-Sep-20 3:05 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter23-Sep-20 3:44
professionalKornfeld Eliyahu Peter23-Sep-20 3:44 
GeneralRe: WSO CCC OTD - Solution Pin
Rich Leyshon23-Sep-20 6:17
Rich Leyshon23-Sep-20 6:17 

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