Hey folks! I'm diving into Flutter and had a question for the experienced developers out there. When you're in interviews, are you expected to write every piece of code from memory? For instance, do you have to know how to set up a StatelessWidget, including all the boilerplate and @override method details, without any reference? Or is it acceptable to use your IDE's features, like code completion and snippets, or even look things up quickly? Sometimes I feel like I'm not a 'real programmer' if I can't write everything from scratch, but in actual jobs, isn't it common to rely on tools for efficiency? I'd love to hear your experiences regarding interviews versus real-world coding. Thanks!
5 Answers
It really depends! In my experience, I've had interviews where they were fine with me looking at documentation, while others expected a lot more memorization. Some just wanted to see that I could think through problems, even if I needed to use pseudo code when I couldn't remember exact syntax. It's all about showing your thought process!
Honestly, I've never been in an interview where you had to memorize everything. Most interviewers understand that you'll probably need to use your IDE or Google things sometimes. They might limit Google searches, but that’s just to keep the flow. It’s more about how you approach problems than reciting syntax perfectly!
I think it varies based on the type of interview. I've had one where there was no internet access, and you just had to solve the problem without any tools. I didn't pass, but honestly, that interview setup felt disconnected from real-world situations. It’s all about balance; knowing your stuff is important, but complete memorization? Not so much.
From what I've seen, it’s totally normal to not remember everything verbatim. Interviewers mostly care about your problem-solving skills. The syntax isn’t a big deal these days since everyone uses tools and snippets. I've done interviews where I just used pseudo code for the parts I forgot!
In most cases, interviews don't require you to remember the exact syntax. I've encountered a few that did, which felt misguided since they don't really assess problem-solving skills. So, don’t sweat it if you can't remember every single detail. It's about how you think and approach challenges!
Yep, memorizing theoretical stuff doesn't reflect real coding work. Tools are there to help us be efficient!