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Learn techniques to solve graphical and spatial interview questions

Some questions commonly posed in coding interviews are graphical in nature or involve spatial thinking, for example:

You are sitting in a small boat, holding the end of a rope. The other end of the rope is tied to the top of a nearby pier such that it is higher above the water than your end of the rope. You pull on the rope, causing your boat to move toward the pier, stopping directly underneath the pier. As you pull on the rope, which is faster: the speed the boat moves across the water or the speed the rope moves through your hands?

Whether or not you're aimining to improve your interview technique, brainteasers like this can be a fun and useful exercise in problem-solving.

In Chapter 17 of Programming Interviews Exposed, Eric Giguere, John Mongan, and Noah Kindler outline several common types of graphical and spatial puzzles posed as interview questions, and offer guidance on effective strategies for solving them.

Programming Interviews Exposed, Fourth Edition

With up-to-date advice on how to succeed in programming job interviews, this book discusses what interviewers need to hear, approaching phone screens with non-technical recruiters, examining common interview problems and tests, demonstrating your skills verbally, in contests, on GitHub, and more.

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Until next time,
James at SitePoint

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