Re: interview question on primes

On 2008-02-26, quasi <quasi@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
in my opinion, having to ask that question would show a lack of
common sense.

If it were just a general test of some minimum ability to solve toy
problems, maybe.

But as part of hiring a *software engineer*, employing someone who
demonstrates that they will not even ask a simple question before
designing their solution seems like a good way to guarantee project
failure in the future. Clarifying specifications with minimum fuss is
an absolutely necessary skill for that type of position!

Especially given the problem - one of the more common uses for primes
in software practice involves very large ones for cryptography.


- Tim
.