I mostly agree that the interview format itself is strange. I do not think people should be judged mainly on how many patterns they can recall on command.
The reality for a lot of candidates is that they still face rounds that look exactly like that, and they stress out even when they understand the ideas. I built this for that group, where the bottleneck is turning a pattern they already know into code under a clock. Each step in the drills is tied to a first principles explanation, so the focus is on the reasoning behind the pattern, not trivia.
The reality for a lot of candidates is that they still face rounds that look exactly like that, and they stress out even when they understand the ideas. I built this for that group, where the bottleneck is turning a pattern they already know into code under a clock. Each step in the drills is tied to a first principles explanation, so the focus is on the reasoning behind the pattern, not trivia.