Comment by joenot443
18 hours ago
> If the candidate reads that this may be the case, asks for, obviously, that reason, and the interviewer confirms that they mean "any", then it's a red flag for that interviewer
I think the confusing part to me is why a rational candidate would assume it'd be a good signal to use an esoteric language to solve a problem in the first place. Like my understanding is that J would be a pretty inappropriate choice if you were trying to demonstrate your D/S knowledge, which is typically what that part of the interview is meant to be for. Apart from the round of applause on HN they'd receive later for being so very clever, what's the actual benefit for the candidate for using Prolog or J?
If J is the right tool to use to handle a problem with, Prolog is an alright tool for that purpose, and Python is kind of a bad fit; why would you use Python instead of J or Prolog?
If I need to drive a screw I'll first grab a screwdriver. If that's not okay I suppose I could use a knife. A monkey wrench would not be among the first tools I reach for.