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Posted by Ed Prochak on 08/15/07 18:24
On Aug 15, 8:57 am, Summercooln...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Aug 15, 5:21 am, "David Cressey" <cresse...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > <Summercooln...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:1187176120.886269.130090@z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > > I wonder instead of just brainstorming, there probably is
> > > a very standard and a simple way to do database schema design.
>
> > > let's say we are doing a website. the user can go over
> > > and type in the movie name and zipcode, and the website
> > > will return all the theaters showing that movie and at what
> > > time, for theaters in THAT zipcode only (for simplicity).
>
> Nowadays when I go for interviews, many interviewers hope that
> I can produce a schema in just 2, 3 minutes...
>
> So I wonder for the example above, is there a 2 minute way of thinking
> to produce the solution?
yes I have asked (and been asked) to design a simple schema in a few
minutes. There are a couple of things that come out in that kind of
interview question:
Experience: if you have seen similar problems before, then you will
come up with a solution fairly quickly. If you claim say " I have 5
years design experience", you should be able to outline a solution in
a few minutes. (2minutes is only enough time to draw the solution).
Mental Agility: the question also is to test how you think under
pressure with a deadline. Your ability to find any solution in a short
time and possibly see the limits in your own design are indicators of
your mental skills.
Communication skills: do you take the given question and just start
writing your solution?
or do you ask more questions about how the data will be used?
It's not necessarily a bad interview question.
To get better at answering such questions: PRACTICE.
Ed
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