The FizzBuzz Test

I read an interesting article on Coding Horrors about how 199 out of 200 applicants to become a programmer can't pass a simple test called the FizzBuzz Test. If you want to read the full article it is available here.

The FizzBuzz Test is a screening test that they put programmers through to test their potential. They are asked to write a simple program to meet the standards in as little of line of code as possible. The program must output the numbers 1 to 100 in order. However, any number that is a multiple of 3 must output the word "Fizz" instead of the number. Any number that is a multiple of 5 must output the word "Buzz" instead of the number. Likewise, any number that is a multiple of both 3 and 5, must output the word "FizzBuzz".

Any good programmer could do this in a variety of languages in under a couple minutes. However, the author of this article explains that "The majority of comp sci graduates can't. I've also seen self-proclaimed senior programmers take more than 10-15 minutes to write a solution."

Out of curiosity I tried this test and I finished it in under 5 minutes each in 2 different programming languages. I did it in VBScript and VB.Net because these are the 2 which are freshest in my mind.

My VBScript code matched the authors appearing like so:

Dim i
For i = 1 to 100
If (i Mod 3 = 0) And (i Mod 5 = 0) Then
WScript.Echo "FizzBuzz"
ElseIf (i Mod 3 = 0) Then
WScript.Echo "Fizz"
ElseIf (i Mod 5 = 0) Then
WScript.Echo "Buzz"
Else
Wscript.Echo i
End If
Next

My VB.Net Project contained nothing but a rich text box named "rtbOutput" and a Form_Load Event. The code was the following:

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Dim i As Byte

        i = 0
        Do Until i = 100
            i = i + 1
            If (i Mod 3 = 0) And (i Mod 5 = 0) Then
                rtbOutput.AppendText("FizzBuzz" & vbNewLine)
            Else
                If i Mod 3 = 0 Then
                    rtbOutput.AppendText("Fizz" & vbNewLine)
                Else
                    If i Mod 5 = 0 Then
                        rtbOutput.AppendText("Buzz" & vbNewLine)
                    Else
                        rtbOutput.AppendText(i & vbNewLine)
                    End If
                End If
            End If
        Loop
    End Sub

Even though this test was ridiculously simple, I would still agree with the author that it is a very effect screening. I will probably continue to test myself with this as I move forward and learn more programming languages. I would love to hear your thoughts on this so be sure to comment. Also be sure to have a Merry Christmas!

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