"Implement a method that shuffles a list"
vs.
"Shuffle a list"
I would want the candidate to ask me whether they can use their language's standard library. I would say no/yes depending on how the question is framed.
The absolute worst is when question is framed like 1) - the candidate just makes an unwanted assumption, and then acts outraged or smug when I tell them I expect them to demonstrate that they aren't oblivious to the underlying implementation.
Then we venture off whether they can make improvements/trade-offs if the list becomes 10K, 1MM, 1B, etc. records of N bytes etc.
I would want the candidate to ask me whether they can use their language's standard library. I would say no/yes depending on how the question is framed.
The absolute worst is when question is framed like 1) - the candidate just makes an unwanted assumption, and then acts outraged or smug when I tell them I expect them to demonstrate that they aren't oblivious to the underlying implementation.
Then we venture off whether they can make improvements/trade-offs if the list becomes 10K, 1MM, 1B, etc. records of N bytes etc.