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This is why Python is my dedicated coding interview language. You could do something far more impressive in C++ or Rust, but if you don't quite finish the full implementation it's an automatic fail with some interviewers even if you had to take into account many nuances that a Python solution wouldn't.

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Agreed - I’ve learned that interviewers care more about getting the end result in the time window than demonstrating lower-level skills.

Choose 1) The easiest high level language you can, and 2) the language used by the interviewer/firm.

Think of it like trying to be as much like the interviewer himself/herself, in both coding and communication.

That's also because in addition to testing if you can solve the problem, they're also testing your _judgement_.

It's an interview. Just like any other engineering problem: use the right tool.

If you go off tangent and don't solve the problem, then that raises the question: "Ok, the engineer seems to be able to code, but they didn't finish. Will they finish other work? Will they regularly get caught up in irrelevancies?"

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