Why Linked Lists Are an Interview Staple
Every time the topic of algorithmic questions in interviews come up I am left wondering if these questions are really as hard as they are made out to be.<p>I would expect most programmers who are not just plumbing together existing technology to be able to implement push,pop,... for linked lists without having to study. You have to do harder things as part of regular programming.<p>&gt; take &quot;determine if a linked list has a cycle in it.&quot;<p>I do think that this question if asked without any support if they get stuck is a bad question. You would be relying on the interviewee to either be aware of that research, require that they have the spark of insight, or allow a very suboptimal program.<p>That said, just being aware of the general solution (two pointers moving at different speeds) is enough for me to be confident I could make a solution.