How long should I spend on each feature in a machine coding interview?
Build must-haves in the bulk of the time, around 40 of 90 minutes, then polish in the next 15. Do not perfect any single feature. A working but rough app beats a perfect half-built one.
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More FAQs in How to Manage Your Time During a 90-Minute Machine Coding Round
First 10 minutes reading and planning, next 15 setting up a skeleton, next 40 building the must-haves, next 15 polishing edge cases, and the last 10 testing and fixing. Prioritize a working subset over a broken superset.
Trying to build everything. Interviewers would rather see a working subset than a broken superset. Build the core must-haves first, get a working result, then add nice-to-haves only if time allows.
Yes, take the first 10 minutes to read carefully, identify must-haves, nice-to-haves, and skips, and sketch a component structure. Planning saves far more time than it costs, because you avoid building the wrong thing.
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