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Code RoomVague optimization request backfires
EasyPrep Room Coding #4638

Vague optimization request backfires

Vibe & agenticAlgorithms & data structuresEntry–Mid~10 min

You asked an AI assistant, "make this function faster," and it rewrote your 20-line Java function into a denser version using streams. You can't tell if it's actually faster or just different-looking, and you're not even sure speed was your real problem. What went wrong with how you asked, and how would you re-approach this?

Implement
speedup_verdict(baseline_ms: list[float], candidate_ms: list[float]) → str
Examples
in[[100,102,98],[88,90,89]]out"faster"
in[[100,102,98],[99,101,100]]out"no_measurable_difference"
in[[100],[50]]out"insufficient_data"
What a strong answer looks like

Treat the AI’s output as a draft to verify, not an answer to trust. Name the specific flaw and the input that triggers it, say how you’d catch it (tests, edge cases, reading critically), and how you’d re-prompt or decompose to get it right.

0:00 of about 10 min

Vibe & agentic: describe the solution in plain language (or narrate it) and the coach grades your approach.

Which questions mattered is sealed until you submit. Telling you now would just be handing over the edge cases.