DevDrill #1

Software engineers have surely encountered “LeetCode-style” challenges. Most engineers that I know have a love/hate relationship with them. Indulging the quickest, personal aside, I detest live-coding these brain teasers as part of an interview process, but I enjoy doing them on my own. These programming problems are like Sudoku or crossword puzzles when they’re not coupled with the performance anxiety of a stranger’s judgment.

PBS engineers have a weekly “DevDrill” meeting where we get together and code programming puzzles. We use binarysearch.com which has a great multiplayer setting. Everyone in a room sees the same problems and countdown timer. After the timer ends, we can see each other’s solutions. We discuss our trouble and efficiency with each problem. They’re pretty fun and I’ve learned a lot over a couple months of doing them.

Here’s the first of my recorded DevDrills. By recording my session, I hope to strengthen my ability to describe my thought process. US high school students may remember graded math tests coming back with “Show your work!” scrawled next to their answer. These recorded DevDrills are an effort to show my work.