Every time an interviewer has told me something like this, they then nitpick syntax and appear to be primarily concerned with "does my whiteboard code compile" sorts of problems. And getting stuck / asking for help feels like I get docked for getting stuck. Same with less optimized. So it's hard to trust such an explanation - clearly my interview would be better if I came up with the perfectly optimized solution, or gave a lecture on the options rather than trying to discuss options.
So it seems to me entirely reasonable to still be nervous.
Mind you, I don't have a better answer, but I don't think just explaining that suboptimal is ok and it's a discussion really helps.
So it seems to me entirely reasonable to still be nervous.
Mind you, I don't have a better answer, but I don't think just explaining that suboptimal is ok and it's a discussion really helps.