The best engineering interview question I've ever gotten
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Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderAuthor of the interview question here. I came up with the idea after working at the company for a couple months and realizing that the skill of "diving into an unfamiliar area of the code and quickly figuring it out" was very important for us. Database codebases are large and complex -- so much so that almost every new feature you work on for the first year or so feels a lot like doing the question. Over the years of…
A three-hour test is above what I'd consider acceptable for most potential employers. I can talk with you a bit, but if you want me to come in and do work for half a day, I'm going to refuse, I've got actual paid work to do.
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 1085
- Total comments
- 628
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-01-29 | Best Engineering interview question I’ve ever gotten – Part 1 | rrampage | 6 | 0 |
| 2022-04-17 | The best engineering interview question I've ever gottenFirst breakout · Best thread | db48x | 893 | 448 |
| 2024-03-25 | Best engineering interview question I've gottenLatest 20+ point return | xelxebar | 186 | 180 |