Should I Avoid Built-in Functions When Solving Problems?

Honestly, don't overthink it too much. Your messy code is what interviewers are often looking for. A clean one-liner with built-ins might actually hurt you more than help. Plus, working through the messy solution helps you learn more!

I think it's fine to use built-in functions and standard data structures as long as they aren't central to the problem. For example, using a hashtable might be acceptable unless the problem specifically revolves around implementing one. In your case, though, using functions like split, reverse, and join might defeat the purpose of the task since it essentially asks you to reverse the words in a string.

Totally get what you're saying! If the task is literally about "reversing words in a string," then relying on split().reverse().join() takes away from the learning experience. On the other hand, using a hashtable for lookups in a totally different problem? That’s just smart coding!

There are two parts to this:
1. Use functions that speed up your coding without sacrificing performance. If the problem doesn’t need a super optimized approach, feel free to use built-ins.
2. Take a step back and consider why your code is looking messy. Can it be simplified? Sometimes there's a more elegant solution.