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Recently I came across with some question that at first looked like a common beginner's question about making tests on an API, but after answering it, the guy tells me that the test cases can't be changed, so I'm not sure but it seems like an interview test.

I really like to help other people, although this is the kind of situation that I don't know if I should, even more because the guy was doing a lot of silly mistakes in his code, so if it's actually an interview test I will be helping someone to get a job that he is not ready to have (just my vision about it)... what do you guys think?

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    If an answer to the question has the potential to help future users, it doesn't matter what prompted the question.
    – Kevin B
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 18:56
  • Yeah, this can be helpful, although I think there is a thin line between homework and job test, even more if the question is about solving the whole problem, not about some specific thing in the code, because it's the kind of stuff that you should do by your own. Maybe it's subjective for each person to help or not, anyway, thank you!
    – Yago Biermann
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 19:22
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    my most upvoted answer is an answer to such a question
    – Kevin B
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 19:25
  • The quality standards and site-appropriateness for these types of questions are the same as for non-interview and non-homework questions.
    – Hovercraft Full Of Eels
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 19:34
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    I incorporate a bit of personal calculus, "Would I want to work with the asker if they can't figure this out on their own?" in how or if I answer.
    – user4581301
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 19:49
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    Side note: There are a couple different types of questions I ask during interviews. The first are the fundamentals. No tricks, just the basics of the languages we need and they claim expertise in. A poor showing here doesn't necessarily doom an applicant. I just need to know how much training will be required. The important stuff is problem solving. I don't want an applicant crapping out a canned solution, that just shows they have a good memory. I want to see how they attack the problem. Knowing how to solve a problem isn't that useful. Knowing how to solve problems, that's the candidate.
    – user4581301
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 22:46
  • Was the nature of it that it could have been for homework, not an interview?
    – Peter Mortensen
    Commented Apr 30, 2022 at 7:50
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    I don't think so, the guy had some unit tests that couldn't be changed and he should do an API pass in these tests, as I've already seen some job interviews like that I thought that maybe it was the case, but anyway, I ended up helping him.
    – Yago Biermann
    Commented Apr 30, 2022 at 15:38
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    I once came upon a question that was from the offline test for the company where I worked at the time. I took no action on SO, but rest assured they didn't get the job ...
    – snakecharmerb
    Commented Apr 30, 2022 at 15:39
  • In my "Experience", answering such Qt's is often a "waste of time and energy" for the Answerer as those @OP's will most often (try to) delete their Qt once they've got their Answer/Solution/Script working to avoid any "Competition" (and the Community) from using the same Sol/Script... (Happens a lot in the small Tag I answer...)
    – chivracq
    Commented May 1, 2022 at 8:25
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    I can generalise questions like this. "Should I make my life more difficult by trying to create lists of corner cases and exemptions for the already rather lengthy list of rules and regulations?" - NO. Don't do that to yourself, or others. Answer good, on-topic, non-duplicate questions. Don't answer anything else. It is already hard enough to reason what is good, what is on-topic and what is non-duplicate!
    – Gimby
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 11:55
  • It could be a paid interview question (submitted on behalf of somebody else—thus not much willingness to change anything).
    – Peter Mortensen
    Commented May 8, 2022 at 16:16

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