Re:How to hire a programmer when you're not a programmer
by alextgordon on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @06:52AM
(#1838041)
I was illustrating the point that even the most minor of things can have many completely different looking but acceptable solutions.
There's way way more than "one or two" ways to solve it if a non-programmer is judging. Non-programmers won't have a command of the language necessary to parse uncommon syntax and idioms.
Re:How to hire a programmer when you're not a programmer
by jswinghammer on Wednesday October 27, 2010 @08:33AM
(#1838253)
If you define the parameters correctly there are really only two ways to solve itoa that I know of. Problems like this always have rules and boundaries.
Besides the people who this question would screen could not tell you what an allocator might even be.
The simplest version of the function is one that takes an integer and returns a string. This isn't a trick question and it's not difficult to answer or judge the answer if you take the time to learn it. Assuming that you're going to be hiring a programmer without one handy to help you then you need to read a few books and learn a few things. It's not that hard if you're sufficiently motivated to learn.