The problem-solving tag has no wiki summary.
-2
votes
0answers
50 views
Literature for programming tasks/problems [closed]
I am in need of good books or articles on programming problems or should I say tasks, with collection of tasks and there answers with some explanation on how were tasks done why did they do this, etc, ...
3
votes
5answers
142 views
How can a developer evaluate the effectiveness of his workflow?
This question has been on my mind for probably 10 years. Ever since I've started programming for a living. And I've seen multiple discussions about good fit, distractions, being in the zone, etc. But ...
9
votes
6answers
502 views
Is it important for a solution to be an efficient one?
I solve many problems, mostly from Top Coder. I will get answers for many, but most times I end up with an inefficient solution.
In real-world implementations - does it really matter that a solution ...
0
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2answers
163 views
Good collection of short code samples in different languages to solve programming problems?
I am interested in learning some new programming languages and looking for the collection of short solutions for programming problems provided in different languages. The optimal format would be:
...
3
votes
6answers
295 views
Best way to get programmers to ask for help when they get stuck
What is the best way to ensure that programmers ask for help when they get stuck on a problem, rather than spending too much time trying to figure something out when they've hit a wall?
I'm ...
17
votes
10answers
1k views
Is “White-Board-Coding” inappropriate during interviews?
This is a somewhat subjective quesiton but I'd love to hear feedback/opinions from either interviewers/interviewees on the topic.
We split our technical part into 4 parts. Write Code, Read & ...
0
votes
2answers
133 views
Why are assumptions important when defining a puzzle?
in this question OP has presented a site where some puzzle are available. He described the problem about solving them. I was curious is that really so problematic. The first one was really easy, so I ...
5
votes
4answers
199 views
How to effectively (but minimally) *simulate* a distributed computing environment?
I am doing some personal research on Byzantine Faults. I am trying out algorithms from various research papers which present algorithms for consensus in distributed systems like this one. For this i ...
2
votes
4answers
208 views
How can I find the root of confusing problems?
Several times after posting over at Stack Overflow, I have found that the problem I have is somewhat specific, and may have issues rooted elsewhere in my code. These are very difficult to solve with a ...
2
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7answers
484 views
How to pay more attention to detail as a developer?
Are there any resources for paying more attention to detail as a software developer? (Especially edge cases, or small mistakes in code, details in the problem description, ramifications for certain ...
28
votes
11answers
1k views
Is thinking out loud during an interview really the best strategy?
In another question I asked recently about best practices for whiteboarding, there was general consensus that thinking out loud while coming up with the answer was the best strategy.
Indeed, long ...
3
votes
2answers
171 views
Improving analysis skills
I am a software engineer with a couple of years of experience. However I feel my problem solving skills need to be improved. To put in crude terms given facts A and fact B I have difficulty in ...
1
vote
3answers
311 views
Importance of algorithms in a telephonic interview
I had taken a telephonic interview and the interviewer has given some problem for which I was supposed to give him the algorithm. Since its was a telephonic interview and I had no paper or pen, so I ...
3
votes
2answers
328 views
How do you improve your problem solving skills? [closed]
Possible Duplicate:
How does one improve one's problem-solving ability?
I'm focusing on becoming a better developer and one area I'd like to focus on is improving my problem solving ...
3
votes
5answers
255 views
How can one find software development work that involves directly the final end user?
I've worked in software development for 15 years and, while there have been signficant personal achievements and a lot of experience, I've always felt detached from the man/woman-on-the-street, the ...
0
votes
6answers
273 views
Steps to solve or approach towards a solution
Please share your experience about how do you approach towards a solution or solve a problem. Include description about what ever tools you use,sources you follow,algorithms you choose etc.
It would ...
7
votes
7answers
399 views
Best way to break down overwhelming code into mangeable chunks?
I'm continually becoming overwhelmed by large projects, once they reach a certain level of complexity. Once I reach a certain point in a project, my progress slows to a crawl and I find myself ...
0
votes
11answers
356 views
Writing code vs Figuring out the answer to a problem?
Why is writing code when you encounter a tricky problem considered "bad" programming practice? And why is thinking a problem completely through on paper or in your head before you write code "good" ? ...
11
votes
10answers
489 views
Why does not thinking about a bug sometimes help you solve it?
Yesterday I spent a good part of the afternoon trying to fix a bug, which I thought to be trivial. I was going around in circles, not having a clue what was wrong. Rewriting large parts of the code. ...
3
votes
2answers
794 views
Where one can find problem sets from Facebook hacker cup?
I want to tackle them on my free time, BUt I was unable to compete and I really enjoy a good crack from time to time? Can anyone post a link or maybe even the questions themselves? Please no ...
6
votes
4answers
291 views
What are the great unsolved challenges (or recent promising breakthroughs) of enterprise programming?
My experience with programming came from a field, computational linguistics, where there LOTS of unsolved problems (computationally modeling natural language, or having effective statistical ...
4
votes
5answers
561 views
Good source for interview-style coding problems for entry/intermediate developers?
I have taught myself to code over the past few years and do not have a computer science degree. As a result, I lack experience from many things, such as the basic homework/test questions many CS ...
9
votes
10answers
1k views
How would you refactor nested IF Statements?
I was cruising around the programming blogosphere when I happened upon this post about GOTO's:
http://giuliozambon.blogspot.com/2010/12/programmers-tabu.html
Here the writer talks about how "one ...
34
votes
15answers
1k views
Dealing with frustration when things don't work
You ever try to implement something simple but for some strange reason it doesn't work.
So you try a possible solution but then something else doesn't work. You keep trying different workarounds but ...
20
votes
10answers
519 views
Where do you draw the line for your perfectionism?
Perfectionism may be good and bad when programming.
When and where do you draw the line when you are problem solving?
When do you decide when a solution is overkill, too general or simply too ...
0
votes
1answer
103 views
How would you tackle a pattern-finding program?
Just to be clear, I don't think this should be question better suited for stackoverflow.com simply because there's not a single answer but a wide range of possible solutions, making this question far ...
26
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25answers
3k views
How can I improve my problem-solving ability?
Everyone says the same thing: "a real programmer knows how to handle real problems." But they forget how they learned this ability or where: it's not taught in schools.
What can I do to improve my ...
23
votes
9answers
547 views
Abstraction: The War between solving the problem and a general solution [closed]
As a programmer, I find myself in the dilemma where I want make my program as abstract and as general as possible.
Doing so usually would allow me to reuse my code and have a more general solution ...
4
votes
14answers
826 views
Is a great programmer creative or logical? [closed]
Which is the more necessary for a programmer creativity or logic?
9
votes
10answers
512 views
Should I be worried if I solve a lot of my problems the same way?
As I programmer, I really enjoy programming games and puzzle creators/games.
I find myself engineering a lot of these problems the same way and ultimately using similar technique to program them that ...
31
votes
14answers
2k views
What programming language generates fewest hard-to-find bugs?
What language, in your opinion, allows the average programmer to output features with the least amount of hard-to-find bugs? This is of course, a very broad question, and I'm interested in very broad ...
5
votes
5answers
396 views
What to do when you're faced with a problem that you can't solve quickly?
I'm a beginner learning Java and after reading the docs I'm trying to solve some of the problems at codingbat.com. Some I managed to solve pretty quickly in a matter of seconds but some not quite. The ...
39
votes
28answers
2k views
Which are the significant algorithms for humankind in past decades? [closed]
Which world most important algorithms have contributed most to humankind in past decades?
I thought this is a good general knowledge for a developer to know about.
Update:
If possible, please keep ...
20
votes
10answers
1k views
How to handle conflicts between developers in your team?
This is happening in every team.
For some reasons, a conflicts arise in the team and they affect the overall motivation and productivity.
What is your recommended approach to solve that common ...
2
votes
3answers
216 views
shadow simulation from buildings
is it possible to calculate shadow areas of buildings or simulate shadows of buildings in a city, using the heights of these buildings and the sun angle and azimuth? the basic light tracing concept ...
15
votes
14answers
631 views
When do you get your best ideas? [closed]
Are there certain activities that provide inspiration at unexpected times?
One that I've noticed is when I'm mowing the lawn or shoveling snow - living in Minnesota it seems I'm always doing one or ...
3
votes
10answers
529 views
Do you use mind mapping software for solving programming problems? [closed]
Are you using mind mapping software for solving programming problems? How can mind mapping help programmer in his thought process?
Can you please also suggest a good simple mind mapping software? ...
4
votes
8answers
396 views
Algorithm development in jobs
I come from a mathematics background but also considering a career in some form of software development. In particular I'm interesting in finding out what sort of industries are most likely to have a ...
8
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8answers
577 views
Recommended book about algorithms, data structures and complexity? [closed]
I'm looking for a book which covers algorithms, data structures and complexity, as well as hard algorithmical problems (by hard I mean NP-problems like traveling salesman problem, node-colouring a ...
5
votes
9answers
285 views
What tricks/tips do you use for innovation?
I am looking for a few ideas on how to change a highly conventional work culture to be more innovated in their approached to problem solving. I've come across this article and am looking for more ...
3
votes
4answers
390 views
Approach to a programming task
All,
Given a problem statement, when I start of with the analysis and design, I tend to think too much about the various functionalities associated with the task (sometimes not even mentioned in the ...
15
votes
17answers
644 views
Are there non-programming related activities akin to solving programming problems? [closed]
I'm talking about particular activities, for which you can draw parallels with the specific kind of reasoning needed when solving programming problems.
Counter examples are activities that would help ...
5
votes
4answers
353 views
What is a good way to brainstorm algorithms on a computer?
I'm looking for something that allows me to work out an algorithm on a computer similar to how I would do it on a whiteboard. At work, I have a huge whiteboard that I can use for this, but at home, I ...
7
votes
9answers
313 views
What to do when all solutions are equally bad?
Sometimes, after having done a very thorough analysis/research, you can think of a number of solutions to a problem, but they all have considerable downsides. What do you do in such a situation?
For ...
1
vote
3answers
81 views
How do you deal when an error occurs on 1 instance of your website/program/app?
I've had a couple of times in the time I've working, moments when I get an error ocurring in just 1 computer and it often takes me hours or days to figure out because it is (or at least seems) an ...
12
votes
14answers
674 views
How to teach programming a person who completed CS studies but for 5 years was working in other profession?
I have a colleague who want to go back to programming after 5 years of doing something else. Five year ago he was working with C++ / linux, delphi, and a lot with mSQL . He asked me to help him to go ...
8
votes
8answers
599 views
Does one's native spoken language affect quality of code?
There is a school of thought in linguistics that problem solving is very much tied to the syntax, semantics, grammar, and flexibility of one's own native spoken language.
Working with various ...
5
votes
5answers
191 views
Allow Administrator users to login as other users
Do you think it's a good practice to implement a possibilty to allow an administrator user to login in as another user, by-passing password? This could by implemented by a master password or a ...
