This mailing list lets you know if you suck at coding

Are you awful at coding? Or do you have the chops to make certain Harvard drop-outs wish they never learned PHP in the first place?

Regardless of your specialty and preferences in programming world, be it PHP, Ruby, C, C++, Python or anything else, one mailing list has been created just for the purpose of helping you find out what you’re really made of. The snarky site in question is U Suck At Coding, and the mailing list comes with a weekly question to help you to flex your coding muscles.

I can’t help but think of it as a micro version of Code Year, packed into the body of an email. Of course, this isn’t intended for beginners, but diving head-first into programming will probably get you going faster than anything else.

The first week’s email is pasted below. If you don’t like spoilers, you’ll want to shield your eyes…

Given a standard linked list implementation, write an algorithm to detect a cycle in a list. A cycle is an infinite loop in the list. For example, if the list’s last node points back to the list’s second node, it contains a cycle. The solution should be a function that accepts a pointer to the head of the list and returns true if the list contains a cycle, otherwise false.

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While you wont win a prize for knowing the correct answer, you might get a little publicity if the creators decide to announce winners as the list grows. For now, you’ll have to be okay with knowing that you actually know what you’re talking about.

➤  U Suck At Coding (Sign up now!)

Learning to code is one of the most powerful and satisfying things you can ever do. If you’re a designer, learning to code can help you understand what you’re creating for, and if you’re looking to build a startup from scratch, being a technical founder can make things exponentially easier for you.

If you’re a complete novice but want to get started, check out TNW’s 7 ways to start learning how to code right now for free. We also created a second list: 5 more ways to start learning how to code right now for free. Good luck!