by stmw on 2/22/25, 10:13 PM with 76 comments
by blindriver on 2/23/25, 12:40 AM
The best way really is to grind Leetcode, unfortunately, and using ChatGPT to ask questions and explain answers or topics. ChatGPT is very good at explaining well-defined things like CS topics and LC answers in my opinion. It most likely slurped the contents of this book and you can ask it questions directly so I think that's probably the way I will do it in the future.
In addition, the book doesn't seem to cover systems design which is an extremely critical part of the interview process for L4 and above.
by 0xDEAFBEAD on 2/23/25, 1:26 AM
Is this because of an interview prep arms race, or supply and demand, or what?
Is all of that interview prep, and higher standards for hiring, translating into developers who are stronger on the job? Or at least, stronger when the job calls for data structure skill?
by ericyd on 2/23/25, 1:37 AM
by syntaxing on 2/23/25, 12:13 AM
[1] https://blog.bytebytego.com/p/my-new-book-coding-interview-p...
by sherdil2022 on 2/23/25, 2:26 AM
Plus the way these tech interviews are done, it is not inclusive for those who feel like fish out of water die to panic attacks and/or anxiety.
by realjohng on 2/23/25, 1:17 AM
by seneca on 2/23/25, 2:20 AM
This really feels like stepping over a line from sharing content to blatant advertising.
From the guidelines: > Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.
by fragmede on 2/23/25, 1:27 AM
The only coding interview left is "here's the question, here's the code ChatGPT generates, what's wrong with it?"
by michael_mroczka on 2/23/25, 1:18 AM
There are many great resources that have come out since the original CtCI, but we waited to release this until we had substantially new advice to give that is different from other options.
TL;DR This book teaches you how to think, not memorize questions. And how to reason about your job search and handle recruiters
Here are nine chapters from the book that you can read so you can make your own decisions. They include:
- Seven non-technical chapters that walk you through important topics such as why technical interviews are broken, what recruiters won't tell you, why you should not spend a lot of time on resumes, and how to get in the door at companies without a referral.
- Two technical chapters covering the two easiest-to-mess-up-in-an-interview topics. Binary search & Sliding Windows. Our new take on Binary Search teaches one template that works for every binary search problem on Leetcode, with only a single-line change you need to remember. The Sliding Windows chapter features 6 unique sliding window templates that make off-by-one errors a thing of the past.
by user99999999 on 2/23/25, 1:49 AM
by user99999999 on 2/23/25, 1:51 AM
by AlexCoventry on 2/23/25, 1:10 AM
by booleandilemma on 2/23/25, 12:32 AM
by neilv on 2/23/25, 12:27 AM
It's like they're doubling-down on the steaming load of BS that is the techbro interview.
Please permit me to share my 'review' of the original book, which I made when I gave away my copy on an MIT-internal free-stuff email list.
> Date: Friday, October 20, 2023 7:53:39 AM
> Subject: [Reuse] "cracking the coding interview" book of satan
> "Cracking the Coding Interview" 6th Edition
> I literally just opened this book to a random page, about 1/3 of the way through, and the first thing I read on the page was, "You should first ask your interviewer if the string is an ASCII or a Unicode string. Asking this question will show an eye for detail and a solid foundation in computer science." With no hint that the writer was aware of the irony.
> However, since some successful tech companies were founded during the dotcom boom by students with no professional experience, they adopted hiring filters based around a cocky student's idea of what is important in software engineering. Then, subsequent startups, without the benefit of dotcom gold rush handing gobs of money to anyone who could spell "HTML", looked at those companies that had a lot of money, and thought "I, too, want a lot of money, so I should mimic whatever that big company with tens of thousands of worker drone employees does." Now we have a whole lot of startups who are filtering their hiring with a mix of fratbro hazing rituals, and attacking anyone who climbs the ladder in the middle of the room to reach the bananas.
> This book will tell you not to climb the ladder to reach the bananas. Simultaneously, it will rot your brain, crush your soul, and make you a terrible person when you're later on the other side of the interviewing table and you inflict it upon someone else.
> Unfortunately, I have old-school conditioning against destroying books,no matter how offensive and harmful.
> TO CLAIM: Please email me and say *which day* you promise you will no-contact pick up, in Mid-Cambridge.
> TO NOT CLAIM: Kudos, and maybe you join me in telling companies who recommend this book as interview prep material, "No, thank you".
(Epilogue: That copy of the book went to someone who responded, "As a linguist (and ex CS person) who is now considering selling her soul to big tech because academia is not a lot more better, I'd be interested in this cursed book!")