Re: Re: Offtopic: How to Design Programming Tests

[Shriram Krishnamurthi <sk@cs.brown.edu>]

Robert John Andersen wrote:

> Also, if you're using Java 2 the collection classes there are
> probably more useful than a linked list, so ask them about that.  I
> haven't used a linked list in Java yet, been doing it since it first
> came out.

These are two different questions.  Asking them about collection
classes determines their knowledge of the Java libraries.  That is
useful in many applications.  But the question Noel proposes is much
deeper.  It tests their knowledge of rudimentary program design.
Obviously not all data structures are built into Java, and it
determines their ability to synthesize new ones, and programs that
operate over them.  In some sense, therefore, it is the deeper and
more important question (for most applications).

Shriram