PROGRAMLAMA BECERILERI

Coding heaps test for hiring

See how candidates use a heap or priority queue to solve a practical coding problem.

35 dakika
1 task
Intermediate
Coding tasks
Questions in İngilizce
Desktop only

Use this test free See the question formats

Kısa yanıt

The Coding: Heaps test is a 35-minute, intermediate hiring assessment with one coding task. It measures whether candidates can solve a practical problem correctly using a heap or priority queue, including top-k selection, merging sorted streams, or tracking a running median. Use it for software engineers, backend and systems developers, and data-focused roles that write code.

Ölçtüğü şey

Solving a practical problem correctly in code with a heap or priority queue.

Heaps and priority queues

Candidates use a heap or priority queue to keep values ordered for tasks such as selecting top values, merging streams, or tracking a median.

Question formats

Coding tasks

The candidate: Writes or fixes code in an editor and runs it against examples.

You see: Working code, checked against hidden test cases, not just knowledge of syntax.

1 task in 35 minutes.

Roles this test fits

Software engineers, backend and systems developers, algorithm and data engineers, and other roles that write code where ordering, scheduling or top-k selection must stay fast as data grows.

What this coding task can show

Applied heap problem-solving
See how a candidate turns a practical task, such as keeping the k largest values, into working code that uses a heap or priority queue.
Handling growing input
The task includes larger hidden cases where a heap-based approach matters, giving you evidence about how the solution handles more data.
A consistent task across languages
Candidates can use any of six supported languages. Input sizes allow time to write a simple heap where a language has no built-in one, and each task specifies how ties are broken.

What you get for each candidate

Example report (fictional data)Coding: Heaps

%55Percentile 11. Benchmark: HireValid candidates, n = 1.879

Heaps and priority queues%55

Integrity ScoreYüksek güven

Stayed on the test tab throughout
No pasted answers
Answered at a steady pace

Scores, profiles and integrity signals are evidence for you to review alongside an interview, never an automatic decision.

Use this test free

How the test supports review

Each candidate receives a different set of questions drawn from large pools. The browser presents one question at a time, and answer keys stay on HireValid’s servers. The 35-minute timer runs on the server; reloading restores the same question with only the remaining time. Candidates cannot copy or select question text, and blocked copy attempts are recorded. Code runs against hidden cases on HireValid’s servers, and pastes into the editor are recorded. HireValid also summarizes signals such as time away from the test tab in an Integrity Score with an evidence timeline. Review those signals yourself; they do not decide on their own. Candidates cannot return to an earlier question.

Yapay zekâyla kopya çekmeyi nasıl önlüyoruz · Integrity signals

Use the score as evidence

Review the score alongside the code the candidate wrote and a relevant work sample. One task means a score can depend on the task drawn; reliability is reported once 200 candidates have completed it. Use a structured interview to ask how the candidate approached a heap-based solution and how they would apply that reasoning to work. You can compare this assessment with Algorithms for Software Engineering, Software Engineer, or Clean Code, depending on the role. Treat the score as evidence for your review, not as a stand-alone decision.

Yapılandırılmış mülakat soruları

How would you approach keeping the k largest values as a stream of new values arrives?
Listen for a clear explanation of the heap or priority queue they would use, how values enter and leave it, and how they would check the result.
Tell me how you would adapt a heap-based solution if the input became much larger.
Look for reasoning about the practical problem’s ordering needs and how the candidate would assess whether the approach still fits.
How would you investigate a solution that works on the examples but fails on a larger hidden case?
Listen for a methodical review of the code, input handling, and relevant edge cases, rather than an unsupported guess.

Understand scoring and benchmarks

Fairness and accommodations

Tasks are set in neutral settings (jobs, sensor readings, orders, events) that need no outside knowledge, with names from many backgrounds and plain wording. Every task can be solved in any of the six languages, and input sizes leave time for a candidate whose language has no built-in heap, such as JavaScript, to write a simple one. Each task fixes how ties are broken, so a correct solution never fails on an unstated rule.

You can give any candidate extra time as an accommodation. Results are evidence for a person to review, never an automatic decision.

Provisional: with one task per attempt, scores depend on the task drawn; reliability is reported once 200 candidates have completed it.

Adil yaklaşımımızı okuyun

Test details

A single coding task in which the candidate writes a working function whose efficient solution rests on a heap or priority queue, such as keeping the k largest values, merging sorted streams or tracking a running median. The code is run against the task's examples and a set of hidden cases, including larger inputs where a heap-based approach matters. Candidates may write in Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, C++ or Go.

Questions are in English.
No aids are needed.
1 practice task, 10 minutes, before the timed test.
Taken on a desktop or laptop computer.

Python, JavaScript, Java, C#, C++, Go are trademarks of their owners. HireValid is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

Sık sorulan sorular

Which roles fit the Coding: Heaps test?+

It is an intermediate test for software engineers, backend and systems developers, algorithm and data engineers, and other roles that write code where ordering, scheduling, or top-k selection must stay fast as data grows. Consider the work itself when deciding whether the task fits the role.

How does the Coding: Heaps test account for different programming languages?+

Candidates choose among six languages, including Python, Java and C++. Tasks use neutral settings and plain wording, and each one fixes how ties are broken. Input sizes leave time to write a simple heap in a language without a built-in one, such as JavaScript.

Can candidates use aids during the Coding: Heaps test?+

No aids are allowed, not even scratch paper. The test needs a computer, and the task is presented in plain wording that needs no outside knowledge, such as settings built around jobs, sensor readings, orders or events.

What practice is available for the Coding: Heaps test?+

The practice set has one question and takes 10 minutes. The hiring assessment itself has one coding task, with examples and hidden cases. A heap-based solution may be needed for larger inputs, such as a task involving merging sorted streams or tracking a running median.