Ace the Programming Interview: 160 Questions and Answers for Success

by Edward Guiness

Be prepared to answer the most relevant interview questions and land the jobProgrammers are in demand, but to land the job, you must demonstrate knowledge of those things expected by today's employers. This guide sets you up for success. Not only does it provide 160 of the most commonly asked interview questions and model answers, but it also offers insight into the context and motivation of hiring managers in today's marketplace. Written by a veteran hiring manager, this book is a comprehensive guide for experienced and first-time programmers alike.Provides insight into what drives the recruitment process and how hiring managers think Covers both practical knowledge and recommendations for handling the interview process Features 160 actual interview questions, including some related to code samples that are available for download on a companion website Includes information on landing an interview, preparing a cheat-sheet for a phone interview, how to demonstrate your programming wisdom, and more Ace the Programming Interview , like the earlier Wiley bestseller Programming Interviews Exposed , helps you approach the job interview with the confidence that comes from being prepared.

Genres: Computer Science, Technology, Coding

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Srinivasan Nanduri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book to understand the breadth covered in the programming interviews and this book goes way beyond that. I am glad to have not only refreshed several known but learnt unknown equally. Does the job for both beginner - experienced programmers and engineers.

[Jeanne Boyarsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book at the library and borrowed a copy. I like to review a programming interview book periodically to see what candidates are being told. That way I’m not asking questions people have been coached on or could memorize the answers too.

The first four chapters are about resumes, general interview tips and negotiating. The author talks about a CV. I wish it was clearer what region his advice is based on. (I’m guessing London since he talks about Skills Matter).

I was somewhat turned off by page 10 saying “Ignore anyone who tells you ‘strictly one or two pages’” and “Ignore all the advice about keeping a CV short. That’s for people with short attention spans and for recruiters who don’t care about details. If you have lots of experience it should be reflected in your CV”. Great so now I’m insulted by the author saying I have a short attention span. I don’t see why a document can’t be concise and show experience. My resume is 2 pages. I don’t mind seeing 3. But I’m also turned off by mixing up resumes and CVs. A resume should be short. A CV is a longer document. I’m also not clear that he understands the difference since he writes “A good CV (also know as a resume)”. There are not the same thing! He also doesn’t define CV for another 10 pages.

In addition to the resume vs CV problem, advice about what to wear at an interview could hurt a candidate taken out of context. I work for a bank. Not showing up in a suit is bad. It doesn’t matter that we don’t wear a suit to work when actually working there. Yet reading the book literally, one doesn’t even need a jacket, let alone a tie. I agree at a startup, a suit is usually unneeded. However, this should have been spelled out more.

The rest of the book is technical questions and answers for a variety of programming languages. Some were good. Some felt like edge cases especially in the “Quirks and Idioms chapter”. It was mostly things you shouldn’t do rather than idioms. There were also the stupid logic puzzle type questions.

Each chapter listed the questions together and then alternated questions and answers. I wound up skipping the questions part and going straight to the consolidated document.

[Rwik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice refresher for a seasoned developer,or someone attending interview after a long break. It mostly provides a high level view rather than jumping into nitty gritty details. I enjoyed reading it, but didn't find any freshly baked stuff.

[Karl Ojeda · Rating 5 out of 5]

really helpful

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with strong advice and tactics for becoming a better developer. I enjoyed it a lot, hope to read it again someday!