How so very true! I was recently interviewed by the No 1 investment bank and was asked to write a program over the telephone to reverse a linked list. My mistake was the incredulous gasp before completing the task successfully so I was silently elided...

What was in the interviewers mind? I can't ever remember reversing a linked list in my 25 years of C programming - why would you want to turn a LIFO into a FIFO? Use the right structure in the first place.

Perhaps it's because I use the APR to do all the hard work for me in a portable, thread-safe and hardware efficient way. I wouldn't have the hubris to think I could write better a thread-safe list. Testing experienced candidates on basic programming concepts that you learn in programming 101 is demeaning and pointless.

It's not the first time I've met with the same idiocy at the same organisation so I've vowed never to darken their doorway again.