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    It may not be expected that the applicant get the binary search exactly right, but if you can give the applicant some hints, he or she should be able to get close. IMO, it's more interesting to see how people try to solve challenges presented to them than for them to have an encyclopedia in their head. Commented May 3, 2011 at 18:24
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    I'm a physicist by training and I can do binary search blindfolded and with one hand tied behind my back. Sorry, but not knowing how write a simple binary search implementation is... poor. No other word to describe it, just poor. Commented May 4, 2011 at 6:10
  • yes, you are right. Binary search, at least the basic idea, could be done indeed. I can do it too. Commented May 4, 2011 at 13:11
  • ... at least the basic idea (although I could not do Fibonacci without first looking up what it was). But a test like this puts people in advantage who just attended cs classes or simply prepared the questions accidentally. It is more useful to give candidates a real world programming example. It shows how they solve more complex problems without immediate pressure and it might also show the candidates, what kind of work you expect them to do (pick a good example). Much more useful than textbook questions IMHO. Commented May 4, 2011 at 13:19
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    Not knowing the definition of the Fibonacci sequence off the top of their head isn't worrying. BUT, being unable to write a program to compute it after it has been explained is worrying (even if all you expect them to do is compute subtotals in a simple CRUD app!). Commented Oct 20, 2011 at 2:33