On my flight to California for Google's first Product Equity & Inclusion Summit in Sunnyvale, I decided to make the most of my time without Wi-Fi by honing my coding skills. 🚀
One area I've always wanted to strengthen is recursion. I challenged myself to tackle recursive problems during the journey, and it turned out to be quite an story!
I successfully replicated the Fibonacci sequence from scratch, but then, I hit a roadblock when attempting to construct a binary search tree from an ordered array. That's when I found myself fortunate to have a Software Engineer from Instacart seated nearby who noticed my struggles and decided to lend a helping hand. It was an amazing experience to witness an industry expert effortlessly tackle the same problem I had been grappling with for hours. 🤯
Not only did Gary guide me through the question, but he also imparted some valuable wisdom about recursion. He mentioned that, in the software industry, recursive problems are often avoided in favor of iterative solutions, and they tend to be more prevalent in interview scenarios. Who knew, right? 🤷♂️
I'm incredibly grateful to Gary for sharing his knowledge and assisting me on my brief but enlightening journey into the world of recursive problem-solving. 🙏✨