I’ve seen a few posts on the internet about people that are interviewing prospective employees that are applying for programming positions, and during the interview process they are asking the person to write a program to solve a problem.  Apparently, a LOT of people, even those with Masters degrees, are unable to write even the simplest of programs.

One of the problems being put forth is known as the FizzBuzz challenge.  The task is to write a program that outputs all numbers between 1 and 100.  If the number is a multiple of 3, then the program should output “Fizz”.  If the number is a multiple of 5, then the program should output “Buzz”.  If the number is both a multiple of 3 and a multiple of 5, then the program should output “FizzBuzz”.  If the number is not a multiple of 3 or 5, then the program should just output the number.

To me, that seems like a very simple problem that anyone who has even the basic understanding of programming should be able to do.  This prompted me to give it a try and here is my solution to the problem in c++:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    for (int i = 1; i <= 100; i++)
    {
        int mult3 = i % 3;
        int mult5 = i % 5;
        if(mult3 == 0)
        {
          cout << "Fizz";
        }
        if(mult5 == 0)
        {
            cout << "Buzz";
        }
        if((mult3 != 0) && (mult5 != 0))
        {
            cout << i;
        }
        cout << endl;
    }
    system("PAUSE");
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

This solution took me about 5 minutes to write up. I’m not saying I am the fastest, or even the best, programmer out there as I am sure it can be written in a much simpler form by someone more experienced that I am, but, I still say that this is a simple program that anyone with the basic understanding of programming should be able to write.

I’ve added a couple of new programs to my download page.  Actually, there are three, but two of them are different versions of the same program.

The first one is HTML Grabber.  It is used to grab the underlying HTML from any web page.  I created it as a way of learning how to interact with sockets and other network controls in C#.

The second, and third, one is Application Launcher.  I created this application because I needed a way to launch all the applications I use at work everyday in the same order.  You wouldn’t think I would need an application to do that and normally you would be correct, however, I have to launch at least 15 different applications each day just to do the bare minimum for my job.

The first version of this application saves and loads it’s information from the Windows registry.  Unfortunately, this means that it requires administrative rights on the local machine in order to use.  At my job this doesn’t pose a problem as I have admin rights on all workstations, but I know that most people aren’t going to have that.

That is where the second version comes in.  It performs the same function as the first application, but instead of using the registry, it uses an XML file.  This also gave me more control over the information that is loaded and I was able to make it so that you can add, edit, insert, and remove applications from the list.

As always, I am open to any criticism, ideas, or concerns regarding any of my programs.  I am also willing to create simple applications for others, and of course I am always willing to create more complex applications for a price.  Just contact me for more information if you are interested in my services.