From: Paul Novak Date: 2007-06-05T21:55:06+09:00 Subject: Re: FizzBuzz (#126) On Jun 5, 6:01 am, "spoo...@gmail.com" wrote: > I disagree. I challenged several of my coworkers to solve FizzBuzz a > few weeks ago. All of the solutions were pretty much the same except > the one from our lead DBA. He solved the problem in a stored > procedure without using a cursor. It was exceptionally clever and > totally horrific at the same time. We gave him the "Most > Inappropriate Use of Set Theory" award. > > On Jun 1, 10:08 am, Paul Novak wrote: > > > > > I do not think there is a lot of room for cleverness in the FizzBuzz > > problem. (Actually, I hope I am wrong and we see lots more > > suggestions for Extra Fun like Peter's.) My understanding is that > > FizzBuzz was intended to screen out candidates that could *not* come > > up with working code in a few minutes. > > > Regards, > > > Paul. As the last few days have shown, there *are* clever ways of solving FizzBuzz. However, IMHO, there are very few that would be appropriate for the stated scenario of a job interview. My tendency would be to create the simplest thing that could possibly work in clear and readable and maintainable code. After all, employers want someone who is smart, but also want someone who gets things done efficiently. Possibly, with just the right interviewer, I might discus various solutions pros and cons, which might be optimized for particular scenarios, etc. Maybe I just haven't interviewed the right sort of employers that would appreciate such creativity... Regards, Paul.