RE: Interview question

I really question how the 5% got it correct, unless the correct answer is "There isn't succinct requirement to adequately complete the task".

That is what I believe Craig tried to say in the beginning. He just used more words. Typical analyst.


-----Original Message-----
From: RPG400-L [mailto:rpg400-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of CRPence
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2016 2:31 PM
To: rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Interview question

On 30-Jun-2016 12:33 -0500, John Yeung wrote:

On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 11:22 AM, CRPence wrote:

On 30-Jun-2016 09:27 -0500, John Yeung wrote:

<<SNIP>> I suppose the verbiage of the instructions contains
cultural, educational, and linguistic biases, the same way many,
many standardized test questions do. <<SNIP>>

I suspect that their choice of the term /delimited by/ is one such
example. I eventually concluded that, most likely, they meant to have
used the term /separated by/.

IME the computing vernacular has defined the former term as fully
enclosing the boundaries [of the string of alpha characters for this
scenario], such that both beginning and end must have the non-alpha;
their example, "Automotive"->"A6e" seemed to emphasize that
intention. I consider the latter term to imply only one boundary of
the string of alpha characters, either the beginning or the end, need
be demarcated by a non-alpha; e.g. with comma _separated_ values,
wherein some of the values additionally may be _delimited_ to avoid a
reader mistaking a separator-character that is embedded within the
delimited-value, as an actual separator-character denoting the next
value.

<<SNIP>>

Are you saying that, to you, a "delimiter" is something that must
appear in pairs, with one on either side of what's being delimited;
whereas a "separator" is something that just sits between the two
items it's separating, with no requirement or implication of pairing?

In my experience and estimation, the term "delimiter" includes the
role that commas play in CSVs, and indeed you will often find CSV
files referred to as "comma-delimited". In an Excel-flavored CSV, the
quotation mark is never *called* a delimiter, even though of course it
delimits something, in the English sense of the word "delimit". So
commas and quotes are both delimiters (broadly speaking), but they
delimit different things and have different semantics.

Out of curiosity, which definition did you use, for the solution you
started coding? Did you ever imagine any alternatives to your first
choice? I would guess that if your first inference was /separated
by/, then no other alternative definitions were considered.?

Same as the comma in a CSV; no; correct.

Your questions and responses confirm your point made about bias in language is apropos; that the bias of the reader can be at odds with those of the writer. I was highlighting what I considered an example.

I fully understand that the term /delimiter/ *can be* used interchangeably with /separator/.

Even so, I have a bias: that when talking about /strings/ [i.e. the context of the topic is strings], the term /delimiter/ will refer to what surrounds\encloses those strings.

Anyone who shares the same bias as the writer, that the /delimiter/ is implicitly being understood to be a /separator/, in the context of their writing, I expect would have a much simpler go at the programming task; they will not be concerned with all the conspicuous difficulties that could arise when the task is approached with an alternate view of the /delimiters/.

--
Regards, Chuck

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