I’ve been programming for a decade, was a Linux/cloud engineer a decade before that, I’ve had code on the front page of google, launched products for Microsoft, and had my code shown on stage at nodeconf and aws re:invent. I am currently top 0.07% on stack overflow. I can answer the other questions in this discussion easily. I would absolutely fail this.
I can understand forgetting the quadratic formula, but the idea is taught to every school student who takes algebra.
- figure out what parameters should look like
- detect edge cases (e.g. division by zero when a==0 or sqrt of negative value)
- and discuss its usage (how to return 0, 1, 2 roots and how you signal it to the caller so it’s convenient)
And this is not a silent-wait quiz. When they seem confused I ask directly what it would return if `a` is zero. Or tell that a, b and c are parameters to such equation.
Anyway, maybe it’s sort of a TIL moment and I should stick more to fizzbuzz with periods changed or to string reversal.
But I feel confused about it as hell.
Actually looking up the formula for the first time in 20 years it's readable (i.e. doesn't use symbols I don't already know) so yes I'd be able to solve it. That's not guaranteed with every formula though.
I don’t care if it’s buggy, how much time it takes or whether the first scratch is any good, because it shows fundamental things every decent programmer knows or knows how to discuss and reason about imo. Unlike fizzbuzz, if you pre-solve this question at home and remember these details, you’re already good enough for the next question.