By Hari Haran
I recently took a HackerRank test and failed miserably. Little did I know, one simple line of code I had written was all it took to sabotage my entire test result. In this blog post, I’ll explain how one line of code managed to throw off my entire HackerRank exam and what I learned from this mistake.
What is HackerRank?
HackerRank is a popular online platform that offers a wide range of programming challenges and competitions for developers. It serves as a benchmark for measuring a programmer’s skill level, and many companies use it to evaluate the coding skills of their potential employees.
The platform has an extensive library of coding challenges covering various domains such as algorithms, data structures, database management, and many others.
Users can select challenges of their interest and test their coding skills against a community of other programmers worldwide.
HackerRank also offers coding interviews, which allows companies to evaluate candidates’ technical skills through live coding sessions.
It is an effective tool for companies to gauge the candidate’s proficiency in programming and identify the most suitable candidate for a particular job role.
My Experience with HackerRank
HackerRank is a popular platform used by companies to screen potential candidates for coding jobs. As a computer science student looking for internship opportunities, I had heard a lot about HackerRank and its reputation for being a challenging but rewarding experience.
So, when I was invited to take a HackerRank test for a software engineering internship, I eagerly accepted the challenge.
The test consisted of multiple-choice questions, programming problems, and code challenges. I felt confident going into it, having spent months practicing coding problems and algorithms on various online platforms. I even spent a few hours reviewing some of the topics that were listed in the test description.
Things did not go as planned.
As soon as I started the coding section, I began to feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the problems. I was not used to working under such strict time constraints and with such limited resources. The pressure of performing well on the test was getting to me, and I could feel my confidence slipping away.
To make matters worse, I accidentally typed in a wrong line of code, which caused all my previous answers to be incorrect.
I frantically tried to fix the problem but was unable to do so in time. I watched in horror as the timer ran out, knowing that my performance had been severely compromised by one single mistake.
Although I did not pass the test, I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of paying attention to detail, even in the most high-pressure situations.
It taught me to be more mindful of my work and to double-check everything before submitting it.
Despite the disappointment of not passing, the experience was valuable and helped me grow as a programmer.
The One Line of Code that Ruined Everything
import pandas as pd import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np from sklearn import datasets, linear_model from sklearn.metrics import mean_squared_error, r2_score
#linear regression on timeseries df = pd.DataFrame([[1, 2, 3], [100, 25, 30]]).T df
#np conversion X = np.array(df[0]) y = np.array(df[1])
#reshaping X = X.reshape(3, 1) y = y.reshape(3, 1)
reg = LinearRegression().fit(X, y) reg.predict([[4]])
As I was working my way through the HackerRank test, I felt confident in my abilities. I had been preparing for weeks, and I felt like I had a solid understanding of the concepts being tested.
As I reached the final challenge, everything started to go wrong.
I had been working on a problem that involved manipulating strings, and I was trying to come up with an efficient solution. I thought I had it, so I wrote a line of code that I believed would do the trick. I hit “run,” and the program started churning away. But after a few seconds, the test timed out, and I received a “failed” message.
I couldn’t believe it. I had spent so much time preparing, and now it seemed like everything had fallen apart. I reviewed my code, but I couldn’t see where I had gone wrong. It wasn’t until later that I realized my mistake.
The line of code that had caused everything to fall apart was a single letter off. Instead of using a lower-case “l,” I had used an upper-case “I.”
Because of that one small error, the program was taking much longer to run than it should have been. As a result, the test timed out before it could finish, and I failed the challenge.
It was frustrating to know that my mistake was such a small one, but I also realized that this is just part of the learning process. Mistakes are going to happen, and it’s important to learn from them and keep moving forward.
I was able to retake the test and pass it. But that experience taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of double-checking my code and paying close attention to the details. It’s a lesson that I will carry with me as I continue to learn and grow as a programmer.