[xianshou]

Evaluating side projects is a perfectly valid way to document a software engineer's potential value to a company, but that's not really the point of HackerRank. The purpose of HackerRank is to be a coding screen - that is, a test of basic ability to code simple algorithmic problems under moderate time pressure.

I have taken a number of HackerRank screens myself, and I have never seen one that either (a) tests beyond the coding level that would be expected of a fresh CS graduate or (b) is not vastly exceeded in scope and complexity by the coding challenges given during the onsite, which do allow considerably more flexibility and relax some of the artificial constraints.

Why attempt to circumvent a test that is meant as a slightly less trivial FizzBuzz?