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Whiteboard vs Editor

Surviving the transition from an IDE to a marker.

Introduction

Since the pandemic, almost all FAANG interviews transitioned to remote shared editors (like CoderPad, HackerRank, or a shared Google Doc).

However, if you are invited to an in-person onsite (which is making a comeback at companies like Meta and Apple), you might be forced to write code on a physical whiteboard.

The Shared Editor (CoderPad)

In a remote interview, you will use a browser-based IDE.

Pros: - Syntax highlighting. - You can execute the code (sometimes). - Easy to copy, paste, and refactor.

Cons: - No autocomplete (usually disabled). - You can't rely on a linter to catch your typos.

Tips: - Practice on LeetCode with autocomplete turned off. You must know the exact spelling of collections.defaultdict or heapq.heappush. - Write your algorithm plan in comments at the top of the file before coding.

The Whiteboard

Whiteboarding is incredibly unnatural for developers. You cannot copy/paste, and inserting a line of code between two existing lines is a nightmare.

Tips for the Whiteboard:

  1. Start on the far left: Most candidates start writing in the middle of the board and run out of room for indentation. Start as far left and as high up as possible.
  2. Leave blank lines: Between major blocks of code (like after a loop), leave a physical gap on the board. This gives you space to insert code later if you find a bug.
  3. Use abbreviations (with permission): Writing collections.defaultdict(list) takes a long time. Ask the interviewer: "To save time, is it okay if I just write defdict()?" They almost always say yes.
  4. Step back: When dry running your code, physically step 3 feet back from the whiteboard. Looking at it from a distance helps you see the overall structure and spot missing return statements.

The Google Doc

The absolute worst medium for coding is a Google Doc or plain text editor (still occasionally used by Google or Amazon).

  • The Problem: It automatically capitalizes the first letter of new lines. It automatically replaces normal quotes " " with smart quotes “ ” (which causes syntax errors if you run the code later). The font is not monospaced, making indentation impossible to read.
  • The Fix: Immediately turn off Auto-Capitalization and Smart Quotes in the settings before the interview starts. Change the font to Courier New or Consolas.

Key Takeaways

  • Disable autocomplete when practicing.
  • On a whiteboard, leave physical space between lines so you can insert fixes later.
  • If forced to use Google Docs, change the font to a monospaced font immediately.