It's been seven years since I've taken an algorithm course, but I have a generic (assuming nothing about the input data other than it doesn't fit in a single machine's main memory and is uniformly distributed) solution in my head as well as a complexity time for it.
That said, I work on distributed systems for a living and have actually had to do similar things (manipulate data sets larger than a single machine's main memory across a cluster of machines).
On the other hand, that's not a skill 37signals needs. It's insane to think that Google, 37signals, and a random startup could and should use the same interview process.
That said, I work on distributed systems for a living and have actually had to do similar things (manipulate data sets larger than a single machine's main memory across a cluster of machines).
On the other hand, that's not a skill 37signals needs. It's insane to think that Google, 37signals, and a random startup could and should use the same interview process.