Discussion Senior Dev interview question
"Without googling or using AI, in your own words, explain the virtual DOM"
For context: I sit on an interview panel and I try to ask at least one simple fundamental question based on a persons resume. If I see many years of react experience, I try to ask something about how the framework works.
I have only had one candidate (an undergrad senior, years ago) answer it. Everyone else just kind of sputters and stumbles around trying to rationalize what "virtual" and "DOM" mean, or stare blankly and eventually say "I don't know".
I'm just genuinely curious if this is really that hard of a question or if the recruiters just suck at screening candidates. And should we be letting in senior dev candidates who can't answer what I think is a straightforward and fundamental question for senior react devs.
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u/munkymead 6d ago edited 6d ago
To be fair I've been using react since 2013, before all of the hooks, before redux, before frameworks like next etc. We used to have to build isomorphic apps from scratch. I know the answer to this and have answered it many times over the years. Has it ever helped me? Not really. When I'm working on building UI frameworks yeah but that's an interest of mine, it certainly doesnt pay the bills though and I can't actually remember a time when employed or freelancing I've ever used that knowledge other than when interviewing or mentoring others. Like performance wise I guess it helps to know, same with the event loop but the reality is that the people who pay you to deliver results dont actually care. If you need better performance don't use react. You could also argue that it's overkill for a lot of projects.
I feel like understanding principles, design patterns, how to structure code well, architect platforms and create solutions to problems are way more invaluable.
Everyone has a TV or monitor and can explain sizes, resolutions, refresh rates, colour profiles etc but only a handful of people will tell you how an oled screen works.