Title: I failed an onsite interview for a senior position because I didn’t have a mental model of the subtask before coding each function during a 90 minute pair programming test. I only used javascript in a text editor. I ran node in console after small changes and additions to print, test, debug.<p>The feedback was you can’t do this when compiling time is long and development will be slow. I’ve heard of developers that don’t use debuggers because they have a mental model in their head.<p>Do most senior software engineers take time to build a mental model before coding and testing?<p>I prefer to create a draft quickly to build a mental model. Is my way of logging to console frequently and coding before building a mental model a junior habit that I should work on?<p>Am I unlikely to pass a FAANG interview like this?<p>Edit: It wasn’t a LeetCode problem. I had to implement an API where each call would change the state of the application on certain conditions. I heard the problem and clarified it on the whiteboard. I coded each function while talking and ask for clarifications.
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