First Code Challenge

Code Challenges

This afternoon I took my first official code challenge. It was part of the application process for a job I’m interested in. I was nervous because time constrained tests have at times proved difficult. But there was a practice problem that I managed to complete so I wasn’t too worried. In retrospect, maybe I should have been.

Three Questions

There were three questions that I had to complete. I was given ninety minutes to do so and could make use of my text editor of choice and general documentation. All three questions involved manipulating data within an array. Either identifying an individual index or sorting or pulling some pieces out or shoving others back in. They weren’t the most straight forward problems but, given my current level of understanding, they were things that I ought to be able to do. For various reasons reasons, thought, nerves mostly, I didn’t do as well as I could have. In fact I felt pretty bad when, with less than a minute to spare, I clicked the submit button.

Three Solutions

The disappointment faded shortly after I finished. It was replaced with a feeling of annoyance at myself and my performance. That feeling was soon replaced with a less judgmental view that, really, tests are hard. And I shouldn’t be too critical of myself or my performance. In general, I know how to work with arrays. And even if I wasn’t able to fully answer every question, I knew that with a little more work, I could.

So that’s what I did. I spent a decent chunk of time this evening figuring out various ways to go about solving each problem. I plan to talk to some friends tomorrow and get their input. And once I’m satisfied with the results, I’ll send them off to the folks who had me take the test. I’ll let them know that I’m capable of solving such problems. I don’t know if it will make any difference, but I’ll at least feel a bit better about it. And next time, I’ll likely do better because of what I learned tonight. Fingers crossed anyway.