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Audio Programmer C++ interview questions

Started by March 07, 2018 08:58 PM
4 comments, last by agneya kerure 6 years, 8 months ago

I am looking for programming tips and interview questions which might be relevant to an audio programmer looking to get into the game industry. I have experience in Audio DSP, Unity and a little C++. What are some important topics/concepts which could be tested in interviews for audio programmer positions?

Moving to the job section of the site.

 

Are you looking for questions which might be asked of you, or questions to ask another?

 

Generally employers are trying to answer two questions. The first is if you can do the job. They'll ask questions about your experience and education, and ask you to solve problems.   The second question is if you can fit in without causing too much disruption. I don't mean "young, white, male", I mean a group of quiet thoughtful people will struggle with a high-energy emotional person, and a group of boisterous high-energy people are less likely to hire a low-energy person. They'll also be trying to judge if you're smart and have reasonable social skills.

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Are you looking for questions which might be asked of you, or questions to ask another?

Questions which could be asked to me.

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and ask you to solve problems

This is where I am a little confused. Coming from a non-CS background, I do not understand the level of C++ programming concepts expected from an audio programmer. Data structures, algorithms or implementation of DSP concepts in C++ or high level concepts like multithreading. I know, ideally it would be all of these topics, but for a starter, what can I expect?

Since it is a programming job you could be asked anything at all related to the job of programming.

If you're applying for an audio programming job they'll ask you all kinds of questions about audio programming and programming in general. They're trying to see if you can do the job.  If you don't understand the programming concepts then it should come out during the interview if the interviewers are worth their salt.

There are several common themes in code questions: loop over things to do something; manipulate some strings like reversal or capitalization or counting; find items that are common between two buffers or different between two buffers; find the longest item or most frequent item or least frequent item; the FizzBuzz problem; manipulate a tree or linked list; sort a collection...  Some are more difficult than others in an interview setting.

 

They'll consider your answers and they'll consider their needs and other candidates.  If you meet their needs and are the best candidate among those that interview (which can sometimes include costing the least money yet knowing the minimum skills) then you get hired.  If you don't meet their needs or aren't the best fit, they'll not take you.

Thank you so much! I understand now - they want them to meet their needs - which could be anything. Thanks for the list of sample problems as well!

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