Interviewed another candidate today. \u00a0A colleague used a challenge based on computing square roots. \u00a0It’s a very simple problem and still gives a quick feel for a candidate’s comfort with JavaScript and solving problems with code.<\/p>\n
I’ve added it to the (tiny) suite of interview code challenges. See\u00a0github.com\/ManagerJS paper-code\/whole-root<\/a>. I hope you find this useful conducting interviews and preparing for interviews.<\/p>\n Here’s a copy of the challenge for your convenience:<\/p>\n A simplified approach to finding the square root of a number.<\/p>\n Let’s look at how you solve a fairly straightforward math problem. We’re going to explore square roots.<\/p>\n Write a function that will take a number Here’s a twist to make the problem a bit simpler: only return the square root if it would be a whole number (0, 1, 2, and so on). If Here are some examples of what your function should return when we call it:<\/p>\n The math in this problem is primary school level. The simplification makes it straightforward to solve with a brute force solution. Several optimizations are possible.<\/p>\n Using basic math and requiring no special computer science approach makes this suitable for a broad range of candidates and shouldn’t give an unfair advantage to any particular background.<\/p>\n The most straightforward solution uses a loop to start Candidates should eventually consider checking the type of State the problem clearly and consistently every time using the Problem Statement<\/strong> above.<\/p>\n Once the function has been defined you can quickly probe into their comfort with assembling web pages by asking them to expand their solution into a simple web page.<\/p>\n Given the function you wrote please put it in it’s own file. Write the markup for an html page that when viewed in the browser shows two rows: row 1 shows an empty input, row 2 the word Finally, link a CSS file to the page. In the CSS file write a rule that causes the result in row 2 to be green when it’s a number and red when it’s Expanding the problem into a simple web page gives you the chance to see how comfortable the applicant is making a complete web page. Do they understand the mechanics? Having the syntax memorized isn’t necessary, but do they know the kinds of tags and attributes required?<\/p>\n You might ask them how they would go about finding the proper syntax. Where would they get their boilerplate from?<\/p>\n The whole root problem isn’t mathematically intense. It involves enough fundamental concepts to give you a peek into the candidate’s coding style and speed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Interviewed another candidate today. \u00a0A colleague used a challenge based on computing square roots. \u00a0It’s a very simple problem and still gives a quick feel for a candidate’s comfort with JavaScript and solving problems with code. I’ve added it to the (tiny) suite of interview code challenges. See\u00a0github.com\/ManagerJS paper-code\/whole-root. I hope you find this useful… Continue reading Whole Root Challenge<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[56,46,75,76],"class_list":["post-261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-applying","tag-hiring","tag-javascript","tag-paper-code","tag-programming-challenge","post_format-post-format-link","wow fadeInUp","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.managerjs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Whole Root<\/h1>\n
<\/a>Problem Statement<\/h2>\n
x<\/code> and tell you what the square root of that number is.<\/p>\nx<\/code> doesn’t have a whole number for it’s square root then simply return false<\/code>.<\/p>\nwholeRoot(4<\/span>); \/\/ returns 2<\/span>\nwholeRoot(9<\/span>); \/\/ returns 3<\/span>\nwholeRoot(13<\/span>); \/\/ returns false<\/span>\nwholeRoot(null<\/span>); \/\/ returns false<\/span>\nwholeRoot('<\/span>candybar'<\/span><\/span>); \/\/ returns false<\/span>\nwholeRoot(0<\/span>); \/\/ returns 0<\/span>\nwholeRoot(-<\/span>4<\/span>); \/\/ returns false<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>Suitability<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Implementation Quirks<\/h2>\n
i<\/code> at 0<\/code> and compute every square on the way to x<\/code>. If i*i === x<\/code> then return i<\/code>.<\/p>\nx<\/code> and immediately returning false<\/code> when x<0<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/a>Interview Waypoints<\/h2>\n
\n
null<\/code>, and negative numbers. See if they add checks to their solution.<\/li>\n\n
i*i > x<\/code>?<\/li>\nx\/2<\/code>. What about terminating when i > x\/2<\/code>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/a>Expanding Beyond JS<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Problem Statement:<\/h3>\n
false<\/code>. Link your function to the page and write the glue code to make it take the input from row 1 as x<\/code> and display the whole root of x<\/code> in row 2.<\/p>\nfalse<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/a>Implementation Quirks<\/h2>\n
<\/a>Conclusion<\/h2>\n