I have taken a couple of coding test lately all timed, but without a limit meaning I could take as long as I want, but they wanted to see how long it took me. Given this criteria i have opted to use the most straight forward style possible while refactoring little in order to solve the problem quickly. I have received a couple of offers so I guess I did good enough, but was curious as to how other approach coding tests.
+1
A:
When I interview someone for a programming related position, good style is nice but usually the least of my concerns - though someone who has good style is a definite plus. If someone solves the specified problem and there is time to kill, I might bring up style... or ask the candidate how they could improve their code to make it more maintainable (etc).
Write simple, elegant code, but don't worry about it too much.
Sam Post
2010-02-27 02:56:39