Language used in whiteboarding

VMware
bububu

Go to company page VMware

bububu
Sep 2, 2018 24 Comments

Most companies' recruiters state that you can use any mainstream language during interviews. Ok, I _can_, but how does it affect the interview outcome? Say, if I choose C++, but the company is not a C++ shop? What if an interviewer doesn't read C++?
I'd especially welcome comments from folks from LinkedIn, Uber, Airbnb.

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TOP 24 Comments
  • Amazon / Eng
    onMyWay

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    onMyWay
    Language doesn’t matter as long as it’s not some totally unknown language.
    Sep 2, 2018 1
    • VMware
      bububu

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      bububu
      OP
      Well, that's what recruiters say. But I suspect it's a bit superficial. I know Google asks beforehand about the preferred language, and they assign an interviewer accordingly. I assume FB might do the same. But it's easy for them since they are mostly C++ shops.
      The companies I mentioned not, hence the question.
      Sep 2, 2018
  • Microsoft / Eng
    Tier 1

    Go to company page Microsoft Eng

    Tier 1
    Use LOLCODE and keep a straight face.
    Sep 2, 2018 0
  • Adobe / Eng
    つ◕_◕ ༽つ

    Go to company page Adobe Eng

    BIO
    TC : 160 K base + 240 K stocks over 3 years + 5-10% bonus , Location : Bay Area , Hobbies : Gaming ( PUBG, Dota , LoL, Fortnite ) , Sports
    つ◕_◕ ༽つ
    Python - comparatively more user friendly , less effort / time required for coding , widely used , Object oriented , if you can write OOP in python then interviewer will definitely understand you know other OOP languages like Java.

    Less time coding gives you more time to optimize the code in iterations
    Sep 3, 2018 0
  • Airbnb
    def

    Go to company page Airbnb

    def
    Doesn’t matter at all. This is purely anecdotal but I’ve noticed that engineers who choose c++ as their programming language of choice typically don’t pass our interviews. The java people on the other hand disproportionately pass our interviews. Not sure if other people have this observation as well. For the record I use python for interviews
    Sep 3, 2018 4
    • VMware
      bububu

      Go to company page VMware

      bububu
      OP
      Same is C++. Has vectors/arrays, hash tables, heap algorithms, self-balancing trees. That's why I suspect some subjective bias.
      I could imagine Python being an advantage - a Python coder can be half done with a problem by the time I finish typing "unordered_map", but Java?!
      Sep 3, 2018
    • Airbnb
      def

      Go to company page Airbnb

      def
      I mean it matters if you solve the problem or not. I don’t care what language you use to get the solution. I’m not any more impressed by a working solution in c++ than I am with a solution in JavaScript. Not sure if that answers your question
      Sep 3, 2018
  • LinkedIn / Eng
    az1

    Go to company page LinkedIn Eng

    az1
    Linkedin uses C++ in certain orgs.
    Sep 2, 2018 3
    • LinkedIn / Eng
      az1

      Go to company page LinkedIn Eng

      az1
      Low. But why does it matter?
      Sep 2, 2018
    • VMware
      bububu

      Go to company page VMware

      bububu
      OP
      Well C++ (probably any language) can be subtle, even as far as just correctness is concerned.
      Besides, I think any programmer judges coding style as well, not just correctness. How my coding style can be judged by someone not reading C++? Especially if he's bent on "Object Oriented Programming"?
      Sep 2, 2018