Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
I was recently chatting with friends and the question came up:
When hiring a programmer, FizzBuzz is sometimes
(and controversially) used as an initial filter.
What's an equivalent filter for mathematicians?
I know that HN is filled with people who have specializations outside of programming, so I ask:
What is your specialization, and
what is your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
Added in edit: Fascinating answers - thank you. I'd love to respond to many of them but that would probably trip the HN flame-war detector, penalise the item, and I'd get no more replies! If you want a reply, email me, or make sure your email is in your profile. And thanks again to all.
I know that HN is filled with people who have specializations outside of programming, so I ask:
Added in edit: Fascinating answers - thank you. I'd love to respond to many of them but that would probably trip the HN flame-war detector, penalise the item, and I'd get no more replies! If you want a reply, email me, or make sure your email is in your profile. And thanks again to all.