My worst interview was for chief technical architect for a small software house.
I was asked to write a parser which could transform a simple data format into another.
I asked whether they were looking for a fast solution, or a better one? I was told it had to be fast and better.
Thinking I hadn't explained myself very well, I asked again, are you measuring how fast I can give you a solution, or are you looking for quality. I could do either. Again, I was told it had to be high quality and fast to produce.
I took the middle ground, and wrote something in a couple of hours that did everything they wanted, and was extensible to new formats, using a variety of OO techniques.
I failed the test because I hadn't used a standard library component that could be coaxed into doing that they wanted. I clearly didn't grasp the awesome power and reusability of object orientation!
I was asked to write a parser which could transform a simple data format into another.
I asked whether they were looking for a fast solution, or a better one? I was told it had to be fast and better.
Thinking I hadn't explained myself very well, I asked again, are you measuring how fast I can give you a solution, or are you looking for quality. I could do either. Again, I was told it had to be high quality and fast to produce.
I took the middle ground, and wrote something in a couple of hours that did everything they wanted, and was extensible to new formats, using a variety of OO techniques.
I failed the test because I hadn't used a standard library component that could be coaxed into doing that they wanted. I clearly didn't grasp the awesome power and reusability of object orientation!