Interview Bank

Mastering Codex and the OpenAI Agents SDK in 5 Days

D5 Choosing and Combining Claude and Codex: A Real Side-by-Side on the Same Task, a Write-One-Review-One Mixed Workflow

• Your team must pick between two coding agents. How do you propose a comparison that teammates can both understand and verify?团队要在两家 coding agent 之间选一个，你怎么给出一套可以向团队解释、也能被验证的对比维度？

  Common in ChinaCommon overseasIntermediate#coding-agent#evaluation#decision-making

  How to reason about it · think before answering

  1. This tests methodology, not a verdict; leading with 'I prefer X' signals weak engineering judgment. Show how you make the comparison reproducible.
  2. Give the dimensions: instruction effort (prompt and instruction-file size), approvals (how many interruptions and why), verification (does it run tests unprompted, what happens on red), cost (time, tokens, money). All are measurable in your own repo.
  3. State the preconditions for comparability: same starting commit, identical requirement text, identical instruction-file content, default permissions, and 'run tests before reporting' on both sides.
  4. Then the reading order: check comparability, then structural differences (permission model, placement and wording of rules), and only then capability differences, which need several runs and a median.
  5. For the team: label every differing row as 'workflow' or 'capability'; workflow gaps are closed by configuration, capability gaps drive the choice.
  6. Expect the follow-up: why not benchmarks? They score standard problems with one number, while teams change legacy repos and care about four dimensions.

  分析过程 · 先想清楚再作答

  1. 这题考的是方法论而不是结论。上来就说「我觉得 X 好」会被判为没有工程判断；面试官想听的是你怎么让比较可复现。
  2. 先给维度：交代（写多少需求、准备多少说明文件）、审批（中断几次、为了什么）、验证（是否主动跑测试、红了怎么办）、成本（时间、token、钱）。这四项都能在自己的仓库里量出来。
  3. 再给可比性的前置条件：同一个起点 commit、同一段需求文字、说明文件同内容、默认权限、都要求跑完测试再汇报；有一项不同，差异就说不清来源。
  4. 然后是读数的顺序：先查可比性，再看结构性差异（权限模型、说明文件的位置与措辞导致的行为差别），最后才看能力差异，而且能力差异要多次运行取中位数。
  5. 落到团队沟通：报告里每一行差异都标「来自工作方式还是能力」，工作方式的差异靠配置弥补，能力差异才影响选型。
  6. 可预期的追问：榜单为什么不够？榜单测标准题，团队干的是有历史包袱的仓库里的改动，且榜单只给一个分数、不给四个维度。

  Key points

  • Four measurable dimensions: instruction effort, approvals, verification, cost, all measured in your own repo
  • Comparability first: same commit, same prompt, same instruction file, default permissions, tests required
  • Read in order: comparability, structural differences, then capability, with medians over several runs
  • Label each gap as workflow or capability; only capability gaps should drive the decision

  答题要点

  • 四个可量维度：交代、审批、验证、成本，全部在自己仓库里测
  • 可比性前置：同起点、同需求、同说明文件、默认权限、都要求跑测试
  • 读数顺序：可比性、结构性差异、能力差异；能力差异要多次运行取中位数
  • 每行差异标「工作方式还是能力」，前者靠配置弥补，后者才决定选型