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DominicConnor
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Joined: July 14th, 2002, 3:00 am

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 13th, 2004, 10:59 am

Most courses teach C++ with the goal of letting you do useful things.What would people think of a course with an extra lecture where you get taught "interview" C++ ?The questions people ask at interview are optimised for what can be asked & answered in a short time, which only correlate roughly withthe craft of writing s/w.
 
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monkeyA
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Joined: December 4th, 2002, 10:25 am

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 13th, 2004, 11:35 am

I would go to a lecture which was on that subject alone, (probably no need for an entire course on c++ so it would be no use to me at the end of a course, but would be as standalone)I am guessing you are talking about things like 'why ++i instead of i++' and 'whats inheritance' rather than the other sort of interview question which is more algoithm based like 'write some efficent code which finds the biggestdifference between two numbers in an array'
 
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player
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Joined: August 5th, 2002, 10:00 am

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 13th, 2004, 12:03 pm

Would go definitely. Although I think I should point out for the record that this July Monday and thursday evenings are not good for me but any other day is fine...Eithr a way...i'm up for hearing this one
 
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Etuka
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Joined: January 1st, 2002, 7:40 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 16th, 2004, 10:19 am

At risk of appearing excessively idealistic, wouldn't someone have a problem if they were able to answer interview questions flawlessly but were unable to perform their job?
 
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daveangel
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Joined: October 20th, 2003, 4:05 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 16th, 2004, 10:31 am

isnt that what happens all the time ? Sorry for being excessively cynical
knowledge comes, wisdom lingers
 
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Fulvio
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Joined: April 9th, 2004, 11:01 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 16th, 2004, 4:16 pm

I find it funny that some interviewers would bother asking questions about the syntax of a specific programming language. It's like interviewing musicians and asking them questions on e.g. how to move fingers on a guitar.
 
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daveangel
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Joined: October 20th, 2003, 4:05 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 16th, 2004, 5:34 pm

I don't think anyone actually asks about the syntax ... its the semantics that are important. For example, when would you make the class destructor virtual ? Why do you need a copy constructor ?
knowledge comes, wisdom lingers
 
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Fulvio
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Joined: April 9th, 2004, 11:01 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 16th, 2004, 10:21 pm

I'd say the two sample questions are rather different from each other: the first requires an understanding of the quirks of C++ and the second could be answered by someone who's familiar with an object oriented language, even without C++ knowledge.
 
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daveangel
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Joined: October 20th, 2003, 4:05 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 4:55 am

wrong .. I dont think the use of virtual destructors is a "quirk" of C++
knowledge comes, wisdom lingers
 
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DominicConnor
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Posts: 41
Joined: July 14th, 2002, 3:00 am

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 7:28 am

At risk of appearing excessively idealistic, wouldn't someone have a problem if they were able to answer interview questions flawlessly but were unable to perform their job?Agreed, the idea is to stick it on the end of decent C++ course. I don't think anyone actually asks about the syntax Many do. However they try to make it harder. 99.9 % of declarations are something reasonable like const double * Rmat;And its nice if you know the difference toconst double Rmat;or double const *Rmat;But you may get asked aboutdouble * q(const (double(double ** const)));For example, when would you make the class destructor virtual ? Why do you need a copy constructor ? All good stuff.
 
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Etuka
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Joined: January 1st, 2002, 7:40 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 8:56 am

QuoteOriginally posted by: daveangelwrong .. I dont think the use of virtual destructors is a "quirk" of C++Does this concept exist in any other OO language?
 
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HankScorpio
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Joined: March 21st, 2004, 4:09 am

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 11:40 am

QuoteBut you may get asked aboutdouble * q(const (double(double ** const)));All good stuff.You'll find that the better places do not ask questions like the one above. If you are interviewed and get asked a question like that, then I suggest you make a hurried excuse and head for the exit. Unless you enjoy working with software terrorists.Just my $0.03
 
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DominicConnor
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Joined: July 14th, 2002, 3:00 am

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 12:08 pm

I suggest you make a hurried excuse and head for the exit.That is a valid solution, though not always optimal.Amongst the problems in interviewing is the need to get a high discrimination index in your questions, as well as the need to have problems that have a finite small number or solutions.It is far from unknown for the interviewer to know little or no C++, and be working from a crib sheet. Yes, really, I'm been interviewed that way, and have myself set this sort of problem sheet.A reasonable question is "how do you avoid memory leaks". However the set of answers is vast, I have on my shelf a 400 page book on just the garbage collection issues in memory. This leads to the appalling situation where a smart guy answers with a better method than that on the crib sheet, but gets marked down.
 
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Fulvio
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Joined: April 9th, 2004, 11:01 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 7:02 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: daveangelwrong .. I dont think the use of virtual destructors is a "quirk" of C++I think that the quirk of C++ is that it allows polymorphism to be broken when a method is not declared as virtual.What is the point of allowing a call to a method of an object of a derived class to be bypassed in favour of the original method in the base class that the derived class meant to redefine?
 
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daveangel
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Joined: October 20th, 2003, 4:05 pm

Lecture on C++ for Interviews

May 17th, 2004, 8:13 pm

Are you suggesting that every method should be virtual ? Seems crazy to me... but if C++ allows me to do it both ways, then I will take it.
knowledge comes, wisdom lingers