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A comment on Ask HN: What to do about ‘Good at programming Bad at Leetcode’. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: What to do about ‘Good at programming Bad at Leet... by mikymoothrowa on Friday May 20, 2022 @03:11PM (#31451378)
I work at a mid-large tech company ~5k engineers.

> You cannot write things that scale without solid knowledge and intuition in designing and analyzing algorithms, something that can be learned and furthered through experience.

The point is not whether people need to learn algorithms, they of course need to, but that Leetcode questions seem to test people’s ability to solve riddles more than their ability to design algorithms

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Re:Ask HN: What to do about ‘Good at programming Bad at Leet... by granshaw on Friday May 20, 2022 @03:24PM (#31451500)
Bingo – I've seen some of the interview requirements – like 20 mins to solve an LC medium, and you can only hit "Run" once so you have one shot...!?!?

Basically if you weren't already familiar with the question and knew the trick you're screwed.

Plus they're really blatant about it too – the recruiters will _actually tell_ you to practice LC, and to try again in 6mos/a year if you didn't make it this time!

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Re:Ask HN: What to do about ‘Good at programming Bad at Leet... by mikymoothrowa on Friday May 20, 2022 @03:40PM (#31451668)
> the recruiters will _actually tell_ you to practice LC,

Here they do this before you even take the interview for the first time

The recruiters actually email me all the leetcode prep material and tips

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Re:Ask HN: What to do about ‘Good at programming Bad at Leet... by granshaw on Friday May 20, 2022 @07:01PM (#31453619)
Exactly, even before the first interview, that’s what I’ve seen too
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Re:Ask HN: What to do about ‘Good at programming Bad at Leet... by anyfoo on Friday May 20, 2022 @06:21PM (#31453237)
> The point is not whether people need to learn algorithms

No, I said design and analyze algorithms, which is a distinct skill from "learn algorithms" (although that certainly helps). And which is certainly very riddle-like.

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