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I'm an anomaly. I like whiteboard algorithm tests. I do still think it is kinda a waste of time doing Leetcode over and over like what I'm doing right now, but hear me out. An even more waste of time is actually learning framework A, B, C, D, database A, B, C, D, bundler A, B, C, D. The more and more I think about it, as a fullstack developer, I continuously forget documentations and how a specific technology works, but I was always able to solve problems using those in the past. I did Angular, Vue, jQuery, React, Webpack 1, 2, 3, 4, Grunt, Gulp. I did MongoDB, MySQL, S3, DynamoDB, Go, Python. Those things change all the time and I always forget how they worked. Because I genuinely like fullstack development I always switch back and forth between different technologies and I can't remember them all. Whenever a company interview me, I'd really appreciate it if they just ask whiteboard algorithm questions instead, at the very least I don't have to scramble brushing up X if I got interviewed as an X developer. At least whiteboard algorithm and data structures questions make me stronger fundamentally as an all around developer and I just need to grind those. And after a while, grinding those aren't that difficult anymore. P.S. I still failed FAANG interview, but I still keep grinding Leetcode. I am definitely a believer in whiteboard algorithm and data structure questions. It is simple, to the point, saves everyone time. If I were an interviewer I would also ask data structures and algorithm questions instead of nitty bitty of React hooks or Javascript promises or Golang's concurrency pattern. Those things can be learned easily if you are a decent all around developer. I'm an average developer. I don't have the creative capability or the insights that 10x programmer has. Those people are not only good with programming, but also at mentoring, at business, at finance, at swimming, at hunting bears, at predicting the future, etc. So, in my resume I often don't have those quantitative accomplishment "implement X in Y minutes that resulted in Z performance and A savings for the company". So, whiteboard algorithm questions fits me better. |
A few months ago I had my first go at ASP.NET Core, specifically Razor. Hadn't touched it for months, now I'm trying it again and I already forget intricacies of the syntax (when to put curly braces etc.), all stuff you only really remember through continued practice. Most of all: its just knowledge you can find on the internet. The case isn't unique enough to not have a creative solution or find a source on. In fact, the information is so easy to find, its almost a waste of brain space to remember rather than figuring out the pattern to uncover the solution next time.
I also find webdev to be more and more complex by the year. Not because of the frameworks introduced, but due to the increasing demands from users, the competition and security issues, while there's still very little to streamline the process for the developer. It takes a lot of steps to get to the point where your site is online, with certified security, connected to a domain instead of an IPaddress, coming as someone who primarily did desktop development.