Pseudo-code exam / code review for an interview?

philologos

Hey all, I didn't know where exactly to put this so if it is in the wrong forum I apologise in advance.

I have an interview for a graduate development program in about a week and a half's time which involves both a pseudo-code exam and code review.

What is generally asked during a pseudo-code exam, is it mainly sorting algorithms or would it involve anything more complex? They say that you don't need to prepare for it, but at the same time I want to do as well as I possibly can.

I have a code-review for this interview as well. Do you have any idea as to what kind of code they would expect to see (It's for a C# development role). I was thinking of showing them a C# IRC bot framework I've been working on with a PHP / AJAX frontend showing user statistics recorded in a MYSQL database or would something more substantial be required.

Much thanks in advance,
philologos

BostonB

Any places I've been asked I got the impression it was to check did you understand how an application or code should be structured according to best practice. Without actually going down to the level of code itself. They may also then ask you do change it to solve specific problems with the system. Perhaps response time is too slow,, exporting data cross platform etc. All in pseudo-code. Code review was more about if you can write code to a good standard. Bad habits are hard to change. Theres also a lot of bluffers around. Depends on the job, though. If its a small software business, vs games company the scope would be vastly different I would expect.

Hobbes

Pseduo-code means fake code. It is normally used to show how a process is done, or to show coding patterns.

The code itself is not meant to compile, but should be readable by anyone with development experience.

philologos

Thanks for your help. I think I'm probably over-panicking about some of this stuff, but that's to be expected considering that it is my first job interview. I think I'm going to have to just work a lot of this stuff out myself

Do you think that it is better to show a simpler program but one which is well written?

I think I will go and look over some sorting algorithms just in case these come up in the pseudo-code exam.

Naikon

philologos wrote: »

Do you think that it is better to show a simpler program but one which is well written?

Simple coding should be a priority. As the number of lines increases, bug count generally increases:) One thing that appears to at least impress interviewers, is to show how you would attempt to solve a problem even without a concrete solution. Hence the psueduocode. I would understand the very basics of algorithmic complexity too. Show the interviewers an example using non trivial recursion, not just the factorial or fibonacci series. Elegance will always trump LOC imo. As a programmer, you should strive to write less lines of code to achieve a task. Always helped me in an interview.

philologos

Naikon wrote: »

Simple coding should be a priority. As the number of lines increases, bug count generally increases:) One thing that appears to at least impress interviewers, is to show how you would attempt to solve a problem even without a concrete solution. Hence the psueduocode. I would understand the very basics of algorithmic complexity too. Show the interviewers an example using non trivial recursion, not just the factorial or fibonacci series. Elegance will always trump LOC imo. As a programmer, you should strive to write less lines of code to achieve a task. Always helped me in an interview.

Much much appreciated. I just don't want to make a hash of it :pac:. I have a real passion for computers and technology and I'm hoping this will come across in the assessment day.

By algorithmic complexity do you mean Big O notation?
I'll take a look over recursion / base cases again as well.

I think the program that I want to show them is something that would tell of my interests in network protocols and it's something I could talk about for quite a while.

As for less lines of code I've been trying to cut down repetition by making more sections of code reusable, I've separated both interaction with the MYSQL database and commands returned to the user in channel into separate classes and used threading where appropriate.

I think by using PHP / MYSQL / AJAX as well I want to show them some of my interest in web technology as well as the core program. They say they accept code in most major programming languages including PHP and making advantage of this possibly good in showing that I'm quite adaptable?

Naikon

philologos wrote: »

Much much appreciated. I just don't want to make a hash of it :pac:. I have a real passion for computers and technology and I'm hoping this will come across in the assessment day.

By algorithmic complexity do you mean Big O notation?
I'll take a look over recursion / base cases again as well.

I think the program that I want to show them is something that would tell of my interests in network protocols and it's something I could talk about for quite a while.

As for less lines of code I've been trying to cut down repetition by making more sections of code reusable, I've separated both interaction with the MYSQL database and commands returned to the user in channel into separate classes and used threading where appropriate.

I think by using PHP / MYSQL / AJAX as well I want to show them some of my interest in web technology as well as the core program. They say they accept code in most major programming languages including PHP and making advantage of this possibly good in showing that I'm quite adaptable?

All of the above skills are pretty applicable. Most of the tech today is moving towards the web. I would learn some javascript too. Dont go too overboard for the interview, just know what recursion is useful for, show some understanding of basic algrorithms like the binary search, bubble sort, insertion sort etc. Compare 3 or 4 basic algorithms and don't make a big mistake. They will probably be limited in what they can ask given the timeframe.

I think you will be grand if you can explain your good code practices in the above post. Here is a basic refresher if have not looked at complexity in a while: http://www.csi.ucd.ie/staff/jcarthy/home/FirstYear/Comp1001-L13.pdf. Try to expand a little on that material. Maybe if you have some extra time, look at DeMorgans laws and state in the interview how these short algebraic rules can be used to write concise if statements/check logic consistency. Good luck:)

fatlog

it can depend on the type of job in my opinion.

Look up technical tests for companies such as google and amazon.

they do coding tests (sometimes over the phone) in which they ask you to describe the solution to a problem. They can sometimes look for exact java code or just pseudocode.

for example, i've been asked to write a function which reverses a string without using any of the built-in api's. another common one is to check if one string is an anagram of another. or similar string manipulation questions.

it depends on the job but a lot of places are simply looking to get an idea of how you think and work through a problem.

philologos

I just want to thank you all for your help in this. I went for the assessment day today and the code review went well and the pseudo-code exam was easier than expected (determining the values of loops and things).

I will find out in the next few days as to what this will mean for me

conor.hogan.2

Did you do a full CS degree? So they did a code review and simple loops pseudocode?

Do you know if there will be further interviews where you will have to write more and actual code?

Thanks.

philologos

conor.hogan.2 wrote: »

Did you do a full CS degree? So they did a code review and simple loops pseudocode?

Do you know if there will be further interviews where you will have to write more and actual code?

Thanks.

I did a BA in Computer Science and philosophy. It's an application for a work-while-study MSc in Applied Computer Science. Some people want to specialise in .NET development, some in Java, some in Applications Support, some in Software Testing so I suspect that it was because not all of us had a CS background that they did this.

We also did a test to prove English competency and a logic test. We also had an interview stuff like what kind of conflicts have you been in in team project situations, what are the biggest challenges in IT right now, how can you make it easier for a customer to understand software, what are my interest areas in IT etc came up, and I had to hand in a transcript-to-date to show that I wasn't lying about my results.

If I find out I'm successful for this one I will have 3 months of training and then a placement for 2 - 3 years.

srsly78

philologos wrote: »

Much much appreciated. I just don't want to make a hash of it :pac:. I have a real passion for computers and technology and I'm hoping this will come across in the assessment day.

Sometimes you do want to make a hash of it, speeds up searches

/gets coat

Fanny Cradock

Hope it works out

fatlog

srsly78 wrote: »

Sometimes you do want to make a hash of it, speeds up searches

/gets coat

ha

amen

Sometimes you do want to make a hash of it, speeds up searches

I like that

philologos

I've been accepted for this programme and will begin in August, so I just want to thank you all again for your help!

wise0424

Hi there,

I'm just preparing my interview for next week and randomly came across this thread, were you by any chance interviewing for the FDM Academy?? If so, congratz for getting the place!!

Also, if you don't mind me asking, and cos I'm having the interview with FDM next week, what were the written english test, logic test, and pseudo code exam like?? Any tips for the assessment day? As you can see I'm a bit concerned... so kinda wanna know what I should be expecting on the day... lol

Thanks a million for sharing!

philologos

^^ I'll send you a PM with contact details so we can talk about it more thoroughly.