Coding interview: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Problem-based job interview technique}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}

A '''coding interview''', '''technical interview''', '''programming interview''' or '''Microsoft interview''' is a technical problem-based [[job interview]] technique to assess applicants for a [[computer programming]] or [[software development]] position. Modern coding interview techniques were pioneered by [[Microsoft]]{{when?|date during the 1990s<ref name=July"time-2012" 2022}}/> and adopted by other large technology companies including [[Amazon.com|Amazon]], [[Facebook]], and [[Google]].<ref>[http://ifdefined.com/blog/post/Google-interview.aspx Applicants blog] after Google interview. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110313021040/http://ifdefined.com/blog/post/Google-interview.aspx |date=March 13, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=":0">[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1405340 Job Interviews Get Creative, NPR 2003]. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on January 16, 2006.</ref> Coding interviews test candidates' technical knowledge, coding ability, problem solving skills, and creativity, typically on a [[whiteboard]]. Candidates usually have a degree in [[computer science]], [[information science]], [[computer engineering]] or [[electrical engineering]], and are asked to solve [[Mathematical programming|programming]] problems, [[algorithms]], or [[puzzle]]s.<ref>{{citation |title=Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job |author=John Mongan |date=December 11, 2023 |edition=2nd |isbn=978-0-470-12167-2 |publisher=Wrox |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/programminginter00mong_0 }}</ref><ref name=ctci>{{Cite book|title=[[Cracking the Coding Interview|Cracking the coding interview : 189 programming questions and solutions]]|last=McDowell|year=2015|first=Gayle Laakmann|author-link=Gayle Laakmann McDowell|isbn=978-0-9847828-5-7|edition=6th|___location=Palo Alto, CA|oclc=913477191}}</ref> Coding interviews are typically conducted in-person or virtually.

==Innovation==

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The questions asked during a coding interview are crafted to determine a candidate's problem solving, coding and design abilities. Eccentric questions (such as "Which of the fifty states would you remove?") test a candidate's ability to come to a decision and articulate it.<ref name=Poundstone />{{rp|67}} Candidates answering questions should consider the use of technology in the present and future, and [[user scenarios]]. Some questions involve projects that the candidate has worked on in the past.

A coding interview is intended to seek out creative thinkers and those who can adapt their solutions to rapidly changing and dynamic scenarios.{{cn|date<ref name=July":0" 2022}}/>

Typical questions that a candidate might be asked to answer during the second-round interview include:<ref>{{cnCite web |date=July4 2022September 2024 |title=Coding Interview Questions |url=https://interviewquestionanswers.net/technical/java-interview-questions/ |publisher=OmniJobs}}</ref>

* Design a GPS navigation unit for a hiker.

* Design a communication device for Canadian [[park rangersranger]]s.

* Shift all elements of a [[circular buffer|circular array]] by ''k'' bytes, using no extra memory.

=== Manhole test ===

[[File:Open Manhole and Cover Mid-City New Orleans.jpg|thumb|A round manhole and its cover]]

Microsoft popularized the question of why [[manhole covers]] are typically round (in some countries) when they began asking it as a job interview question.<ref name="Poundstone" /><ref name="Davis">{{cite web|last=Davis |first=Jim |url=http://www.joblossguide.com/2009/02/why-are-manhole-covers-round_10.html |title=Why Are Manhole Covers Round? |publisher=Joblossguide.com |date=2009-02-10 |access-date=2011-04-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612064454/http://www.joblossguide.com/2009/02/why-are-manhole-covers-round_10.html |archive-date=June 12, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref> Originally meant as a psychological assessment of how one approaches a question with more than one correct answer, the problem has produced a number of alternative explanations, from the [[tautology (rhetoric)|tautological]] ("Manhole covers are round because manholes are round.")<ref name="Poundstone" /> to the philosophical.

By 2012, the practice of asking [[lateral thinking]] questions had declined at companies including Microsoft and Google. A paperstudy by [[San Francisco State University]] associate professor of psychology Chris Wright found that puzzle interview questions annoyed job applicants. "Methods that had a transparent relationship between test content and job duties, such as interviews, work samples, and reference checks were perceived more favorably," Wright wrote in a research paper entitled "Why Are Manhole Covers Round? A Laboratory Study of Reactions to Puzzle Interviews". Poundstone, who had written puzzle interview guides for Microsoft and Google, referred to puzzle questions in 2012 as "a sort of fad" that lost popularity because of a lack of evidence of their effectiveness.<ref name="time-2012">{{cite newsmagazine |last1=White |first1=Martha C. |title=No-Brainer: ‘Brainteaser’'Brainteaser' Job Interview Questions Don’tDon't Work |url=https://business.time.com/2012/10/23/no-brainer-brainteaser-job-interview-questions-dont-work/ |access-date=July 4, 2022 |workmagazine=Time |date=October 23, 2012}}</ref>

==References==

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[[Category:Microsoft culture]]

[[Category:Job interview]]

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