In addition to the points listed, it gives the algorithm nerds the opportunity to show their overqualification by whipping out the O(n) median algorithm and proving that it works in linear time.

I also like this question.

A fun follow up is asking a candidate how to compute the 25th and 75th percentiles or more broadly, the n-th percentile.

Only the median (or pair around the median) needs to be sorted, the other numbers can be unsorted :)

Great question! Assuming the job requires calculating a lot of medians.

> High-quality candidates …

Oh, you … ;-)