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 potentialapplicants employeesfor a [[computer programming]] or [[software development]] position. TheModern techniquecoding wasinterview techniques were pioneered by [[Microsoft]], andduring subsequentlythe 1990s<ref name="time-2012" /> and developedadopted 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==

Microsoft's interview style was distinctive in that it concerned technical knowledge, problem solving and creativity as opposed to the [[Job interview#Behavioral interview questions|goal and weaknesses interviews]] most companies used at the time. Initially based on [[Bill Gates]]'s obsession with puzzles, many of the puzzles presented during interviews started off being [[Fermi problem]]s, or sometimes logic problems, and have eventually transitioned over the years into questions relevant to programming:.<ref name="Poundstone">{{cite book | last = Poundstone | author-link = William Poundstone | first = William | title = How Would You Move Mount Fuji | ___location = Boston | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | year = 2003 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/howwouldyoumovem00poun/page/50 50–90] | isbn = 0-316-91916-0 | url = https://archive.org/details/howwouldyoumovem00poun/page/50 }}</ref> As [[William Poundstone]] wrote, "Puzzles test competitive edge as well as intelligence. Like business or football, a logic puzzle divides the world into winners and losers. You either get the answer, or you don't. … Winning has to matter."<ref name="Poundstone" />{{rp|62}}

== Questions ==

<blockquote>Puzzles test competitive edge as well as intelligence. Like business or football, a logic puzzle divides the world into winners and losers. You either get the answer, or you don't... Winning has to matter.<ref>Poundstone, page 62.</ref></blockquote>

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, page 67.</ref>{{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}}<ref name=":0" />

== Example interview questions ==

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>Poundstone, page 67.</ref> 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.

Typical questions that a candidate might be asked to answer during the second-round interview include:<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 September 2024 |title=Coding Interview Questions |url=https://interviewquestionanswers.net/technical/java-interview-questions/ |publisher=OmniJobs}}</ref>

A coding interview is intended to seek out creative thinkers and those who can adapt their solutions to rapidly changing and dynamic scenarios.{{cn}}

Typical questions that a candidate might be asked to answer during the second-round interview include:{{cn}}

* What is the cosine law and how do you use this in real life situations?

* 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="Microsoft Puzzle BookPoundstone">{{cite book| last = Poundstone| first = William| title = How Would You Move Mount Fuji? Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle – How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers| publisher = Little, Brown| year = 2003| isbn = 0-316-91916-0| url = https://archive.org/details/howwouldyoumovem00poun}}</ref><ref>{{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="Microsoft Puzzle BookPoundstone" /> to the philosophical.

By 2012, the practice of asking [[lateral thinking]] questions had declined at companies including Microsoft and Google. A study 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 magazine |last1=White |first1=Martha C. |title=No-Brainer: 'Brainteaser' Job Interview Questions Don't Work |url=https://business.time.com/2012/10/23/no-brainer-brainteaser-job-interview-questions-dont-work/ |access-date=July 4, 2022 |magazine=Time |date=October 23, 2012}}</ref>

The practice of asking [[lateral thinking]] questions was later formally discouraged at Microsoft.{{cn}}

==Programming language==

If the interviewing position has specific [[programming language]] requirements, the candidate is expected to know those languages and solve the questions with it. If the interview is for general programming or development position, a thorough knowledge of one mainstream language such as [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], or [[Java (programming language)|Java]] may be enough to get by.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} An interviewer may also allow use of other popular languages, such as [[JavaScript]], [[PHP]], or [[Perl]].{{cn}}

==References==

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[[Category:Microsoft culture]]

[[Category:Job interview]]

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