Let's hear it!

[deadly7]

I'll post (more specifically) the questions they asked and elaborate on the experience if anyone is interested.

I'd hold off on doing that until you find out for sure either way--I know with some companies, discussing their hiring questions [and if they find out] is instant grounds for dismissal.

[BigAznDaddy]

Just found out that I cannot defer my tuition fees next semester so I have to pay them 2,400 by dec 11th. :(

[Sidoh]

I'll post (more specifically) the questions they asked and elaborate on the experience if anyone is interested.

I'd hold off on doing that until you find out for sure either way--I know with some companies, discussing their hiring questions [and if they find out] is instant grounds for dismissal.

I'm confident enough that this isn't true in this case that I'll probably post them later today anyway. :P

Just found out that I cannot defer my tuition fees next semester so I have to pay them 2,400 by dec 11th. :(

Ouch, that sucks... going to have to do loans?

[rabbit]

Just found out that I cannot defer my tuition fees next semester so I have to pay them 2,400 by dec 11th. :(

Bake a tasty cake.  Sell it.  Repeat.

[Hitmen]

Just found out that I cannot defer my tuition fees next semester so I have to pay them 2,400 by dec 11th. :(

I feel your pain. I just finally got financial aid like, last week. Now I need to come up with the ~$3500 or so it doesn't cover or I can't register for classes for next semester :|

[Sidoh]

All questions are programming questions.  You're asked to write code on a whiteboard that is pretty close to functioning.  I was given five questions throughout the day, but I'll only ask the ones that weren't completely mundane (they're all straightforward).

1. Write a method to draw a tree given the following definition of a tree:

Code Select Expand


typedef struct _TreeNode
{
  TreeNode *firstChild;
  TreeLink *children;
  void *data;
} TreeNode;

typedef struct _TreeLink
{
  TreeNode *child;
  TreeLink *nextChild;
} TreeLink;

And the following method that renders a node on the screen at position (x,y).  You can assume an infinite canvas, and it doesn't matter where the tree is positioned, as long as the nodes are given a "spacer" of 1 unit (each node occupies 1sq unit).

Code Select Expand

void *DrawNode(TreeNode *node, float x, float y);

2. Given two pointers to arbitrary nodes in a tree, write a method that finds their first common ancestor.  You can assume the tree is balanced.

3. Write some C code to parse an INI file.

4. You're tasked with writing the history functionality for a browser.  You're primarily concerned with returning all entries that start with some substring.  What data structures would you use to store the history?

[BigAznDaddy]

Ouch, that sucks... going to have to do loans?

yeah unfortunately.

[Newby]

If anyone here ever interviews with Microsoft, the best advice I can give is know your data structures.  One of the interview questions was best solved using a Trie (26-ary tree where each edge is a letter) or a DAWG (directed acyclic word graph, compressed version of Trie), and two separate interviews involved writing C to do various operations on an n-ary tree.

Wow. We learned about Tries in my data structures class, and I thought the bitch was insane because I had *never* heard of it!

She also explained how to compress a Trie, but never talked about a DAWG specifically. =P

[Sidoh]

If anyone here ever interviews with Microsoft, the best advice I can give is know your data structures.  One of the interview questions was best solved using a Trie (26-ary tree where each edge is a letter) or a DAWG (directed acyclic word graph, compressed version of Trie), and two separate interviews involved writing C to do various operations on an n-ary tree.

Wow. We learned about Tries in my data structures class, and I thought the bitch was insane because I had *never* heard of it!

She also explained how to compress a Trie, but never talked about a DAWG specifically. =P

I hadn't either.  I kinda came up with it in the middle of the interview.  I started drawing a tree on the board like "I'm thinking of a tree where every edge is a letter..." and he interrupted and said "Yeah, that's called a Trie".

Well, she probably wasn't talking about a DAWG.  The obvious way of compressing a Trie is to not include edges that aren't used.  The guy who was interviewing me hadn't even heard of them.  A DAWG compresses a Trie by turning it into a directed acyclic graph (and in most cases, makes it not a tree at all anymore).  The idea is to make any two nodes with the same parent point to the same node if they both have a link to the same letter.

Data structures are the bread and butter of efficient programming, though.  Most fancy algorithms have fancy data structures behind them.

[truste1]

What are everyone's thoughts on this computer Walmart has for Black Friday?

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13228496&sourceid=24182692763822594607

All I use my laptop for is internet, music, pictures, homework, and photoshop. I have a Macbook Pro right now that I'd like to sell, buy a Windows laptop and get a ZuneHD (I want the ZuneHD.) I still like my Mac but I'd rather have an iMac because I find the Macbook screen is too small for Photoshop and Illustrator, thus I often use an iMac on campus anyway. I'm not sure how much my Macbook would sell for if I put it on eBay, but if I could sell it and buy the Windows computer and have some extra cash to put toward either the Zune or iMac I think it could be a good deal. I really like the Zune software, almost enough for it to fuel me to switch back to Win 7 at least on my laptop.

[rabbit]

You can get better computer for less money at Woot.

[iago]

You could just buy a big monitor to plug into your Macbook. That's what I do at home.

[truste1]

You could just buy a big monitor to plug into your Macbook. That's what I do at home.

I do have an external monitor, but I prefer not to use it (anybody interested in a Samsung SyncMaster 906bw?).

[iago]

You could just buy a big monitor to plug into your Macbook. That's what I do at home.

I do have an external monitor, but I prefer not to use it (anybody interested in a Samsung SyncMaster 906bw?).

How come?

Using my laptop in a hotel or whatever makes me crazy -- I can't stand not having a monitor.

[Sidoh]

I don't mind using a laptop (I have two 24" at home), but I definitely feel more restricted.  If I'm doing anything useful, it's much easier to use my desktop.