Re: Python Interview Questions

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From	Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com>
Date	Wed, 5 Sep 2012 09:22:58 -0600
Subject	Re: Python Interview Questions
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On Wed, Sep 5, 2012 at 8:34 AM, Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> wrote:
> I wouldn't go that far. The 'name' parameter, I would expect, would be
> a constant.

The 'item' parameter, though, is probably not a constant, and it's
interpolated just the same.

> However, this strikes me as encouraging some really
> inefficient code, like iterating over all the rows in a table with N+1
> queries (one to get the length, then a separate query for each row).
> Plus, use of limit without order by is not guaranteed (although since
> this is specific to MySQL, it's unlikely you'll run into trouble - but
> PostgreSQL, with its MVCC storage system, frequently reorders rows in
> a table).

The lack of an ORDER BY is the least of the problems with that SQL.
He's also using LIMIT without OFFSET, so the only thing that the
'item' argument changes is how many rows are returned (all but one of
which are ignored), not which one is actually fetched.

It's a bit sad that these are touted as answers to interview
questions.  I wouldn't hire anybody who gave answers like these.

Thread

Re: Python Interview Questions charvigroups@gmail.com - 2012-09-04 23:50 -0700
  Re: Python Interview Questions Kushal Kumaran <kushal.kumaran+python@gmail.com> - 2012-09-05 14:10 +0530
  Re: Python Interview Questions Peter Otten <__peter__@web.de> - 2012-09-05 16:21 +0200
  Re: Python Interview Questions Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-09-06 00:34 +1000
  Re: Python Interview Questions Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-09-06 00:36 +1000
  Re: Python Interview Questions Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-09-05 09:22 -0600
    Re: Python Interview Questions Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2012-09-05 12:38 -0400
  Re: Python Interview Questions Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-09-06 01:34 +1000
  Re: Python Interview Questions Dave Angel <d@davea.name> - 2012-09-05 12:01 -0400
  Re: Python Interview Questions Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2012-09-05 12:11 -0400
  Re: Python Interview Questions Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2012-09-05 10:40 -0600
    Re: Python Interview Questions Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2012-09-05 12:45 -0400
  Re: Python Interview Questions Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2012-09-06 08:13 +1000
  Re: Python Interview Questions Kushal Kumaran <kushal.kumaran+python@gmail.com> - 2012-09-06 09:54 +0530
  Re: Python Interview Questions MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2012-09-06 12:38 +0100

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