Learning from Interview

Talking aloud

Communication

- Have a good/friendly/happy conversation with the interviewer

- Eye contact, real discussion

- Make interviewer like you: your personality, your skills etc

- Show the process how you tackle the problem

Always think whether there are different/better approaches

- If you find it (even after you finish your current approaches) , still say it

If there are somethings that you didn't solve or understand

- Ask for hints/solutions 

- if possible

- Even that questions maybe not that important: that shows you want to learn in any cirsumstances

Before interview

- Know how many questions they would ask

- Some companies/interviewers likes to ask simple code questions as warm up, if you spend too much time on it, there may be no much time left for the next real question.

- Though, personally lots of warm up coding questions is not that useful - as it only causes confusion.

- Good warm up questions: 

-- different types: simple dfs/recursion question

When write code

What expectations from the interviewers:

- Do they care about details such as sanity check, corner cases

- Or they focus on the high level algorithm and your problem solving skills

- If they ask you simple coding questions, pay more attention to details when you write the code and later when re-check

- If possible - depend on timings

- Always say: let me check the code again after you finish your first draft code

- Always run some examples:

  - Generalize your example: isPalindromOneDiff

Never say:

I don't know

- Try to solve it, infer from your existing knowledge 

Even after you finish your code/design, think aloud what you can improve

What's the time/space complexity of your current approach

How you can improve it:

- your current approach: O(1) time, O(n) time,  can you use lesser space but still O(1) time, or lesser space but more time: like O(logn) time

When find/realize there are something you can improve: in the code, design

- Say it,

- Fix it 
- in the code, if possible before the interviewer takes the picture

Even after all this, ask the interviewer:
- Take this as a chance to learn something
Is there any better approach?
Did I miss anything in the design?

Reflection

- Think what you can do better, what mistakes you made, what lessons you learned after interview

When write code

What states/variables/invariants you are trying to maintain

Source of bugs

loop variables 

- forget to change them: next=current.next;