An essential review can be good once a while, but over-analysis can reduce our motivation for practice:(
See also my google-sheet on codingIV types and skills required —
Note I don’t target a skill like “passing all Leetcode tests” since those tests require very refined algorithm, but most coding tests focus on just a decent algorithm with normal test cases. See my letter sent to friends about “hard problems”
| benefit : | quick-n-dirty syntax+idiom |
other part of ECT | best practices | ||||||
| Can we remember after X years? | 3Y #highly specific items | unsure | 4Y | ||||||
| Did we improve through past IV? | y | they are wake-up calls | |||||||
| Can we improve it on the job? | actually no | rarely | slightly | ||||||
| important in short codility IV? | crucial | y | n | ||||||
| important in white board pair-coding? | secondary | FB only, not GOOG | n | ||||||
| important in long take-home assignment? | n | n | y | ||||||
—-#1 benefit: syntax+idioms. See ##examples@syntax learning via mock coding IV
I also realized my data structure syntax grasp is insufficient with STL etc. In a timed coding tests I had no time searching online. I feel STL syntax is more messy.
—-benefit: ECT speed of completion.
I was able to complete many timed online tests but still rejected. Still, I did better than before.
—-benefit: best practices — designs, code smells
—-benefit: key ideas (sometimes insight) into a classic problem. A real insight is powerful and reusable. This is mostly useful when we hit a “previous problem”. See https://bintanvictor.wordpress.com/2018/06/09/study-top-100-common-coding-challenges-to-learn-key-techniques/
This is the #1 benefit to XR.
I feel I hit something similar to previous problems about 50% of the time.
