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Except solving linear functions has a clear role in any field that makes use of linear algebra. Interviews that require memorizing volumes of pointless trivia unrelated to the work at hand are completely different.



Yes, in practice this interview style now achieves exactly the opposite goal that it was created for. That is, originally people wanted to base hiring on general problem solving skill, mapping out a problem domain with relevant questions, proposing solutions, identifying tradeoffs, reacting to a change in problem statement, etc. based on a pure computer science foundation, independent of ever changing software frameworks, libraries, APIs etc. Precisely because memorizing the specific steps of creating a CRUD mobile app in today's workflow is not useful later on. The problem is, Goodhart's law kicked in and performance in such puzzles became the target to optimize for, so it stopped being a good measure, because now people have to explicitly study for it from books and online courses and practice sites and so now it measures more of the effort you're willing to put in to jump hoops instead of actual problem solving aptitude.

An alternative could be to ask about a recent real-world project of the applicant, but that's also easier to rehearse.




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