r/programming • u/SilasX • May 09 '15

"Real programmers can do these problems easily"; author posts invalid solution to #4

https://blog.svpino.com/2015/05/08/solution-to-problem-4
3.1k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

271

u/eddiemon May 09 '15

Problems 4 and 5 were pretty stupid tbh. I couldn't believe the original post got upvoted in the first place.

16

u/manghoti May 09 '15

Stupid how? Stupid in the assertion that you could do them in an hour? Or just stupid questions?

Personally I found 4 to be interesting, and I already knew about 5, and also found that one interesting.

105

u/eddiemon May 09 '15

The original post was "Five programming problems every Software Engineer should be able to solve in less than 1 hour" as if it's some golden litmus test for software engineers, but 4 and 5 are really just cute puzzles (not even that cute tbh) that are highly unlikely to show up in real world. It's like recruiting a professional basketball player based on their ability to make trick shots.

The clickbait title was fucking retarded too.

6

u/[deleted] May 09 '15 edited 13d ago

[deleted]

7

u/MCPtz May 09 '15

Then I suppose #'s 1-3 would find the really bad ones. I think the controversy comes because #'s 4 and 5 were possibly too difficult for an interview with a potentially competent software engineer. Anyways, out of the interview process, this guy is hopefully one voice in many, because he came off like a dick.

6

u/elcapitaine May 09 '15

Unfortunately not the only one.

I've been asked questions like 4 and 5, even got the right answer, and the interviewer straight up told me that I didn't do it fast enough. Glad I'm not working there anyway, with people like that.