The idea behind this workshop is to get people used to solving questions on the spot. It can be stressful to encounter a new problem, especially in an interview situation, and be expected to talk out the solution. But it is an important skill, even past the interviewing stage, because new problems will be raised in meetings and in daily conversation while in the workforce, and being able to think quickly is very helpful. Practice can be very helpful for these types of problems.

There are several categories of problems, such as interview questions (with a data structures focus), working with unfamiliar programming languages, and real life applications. Directions are provided in the files that have the problems listed. But it's not necessary to follow those directions. For example, you might just want to start by writing out the steps you would take. Or you might want to write out the questions you would ask the interviewer. Or you could even focus on the challenges you think you will face. You could decide if the problem is best for a single person or for a group and why.

These problems are meant to be inspirational. Everyone can get something different out of them. If you have ideas or you have more problems to add to the list or you want to add a new list, feel free to contribute!