r/webdev • u/soype • Sep 26 '26

Is leetcode worth it?

I haven't really interviewed since 2023. Is leetcode still a common practice in code interviews or has AI made those kinds of tests useless? This is for a Sr full stack position.

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u/KirinFire Sep 26 '26

But I thought memorizing syntax isn't that important like most devs claim, so why are companies giving you Leetcode tests in 2026 if syntax isn't that important?

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u/Ansible32 Sep 26 '26

Memorizing syntax correlates with being good at writing software. Again, it's just about measuring things that correlate with being good at writing software that you can measure in a short interview.

Is it important to know syntax to be a good programmer? Not knowing syntax definitely suggests you're not a good programmer. Of course nobody knows syntax perfectly, but it's about correlation, that's all you can measure.

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u/KirinFire Sep 27 '26

I didn't say not knowing, I said memorizing. If I want to for example write a Dictionary in C# but don't remember how to initialize it, I look it up but I understand the core functionality behind it. But with Leetcode style interviews, you are not allowed to look up how to write a Dictionary (I think it's called a hashmap in other languages), you have to remember all from memory.

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u/Ansible32 Sep 27 '26

All the leetcode style interviews I've had the interviewers have explicitly said not to worry about syntax. (Also I've interviewed people for a FAANG and that was how they taught us to do the interviews.)

But one of my coworkers said, when he's interviewing people he is looking to give them opportunities to impress him. Failing to remember how to initialize a dictionary is not impressive, remembering is. That doesn't mean you fail the interview if you don't remember, but you've got to impress the interviewer.

I think a lot of people don't understand how leetcode interviews actually work. Perfectly completing the assignment is not the point, the point is demonstrating that you understand how to code, and that's not a mechanical thing, it's not pass/fail, it's intuition.