code rag

Splitting source files every 500 characters slices functions in half and wrecks retrieval. Interviewers want to see you chunk on syntax, retrieve by symbol and dependency, and blend lexical exact-match with semantic search the way code search actually needs.

Two frontier coding agents made opposite bets on the same problem, and both published evidence. Candidates who pick a side on vibes miss what the interviewer wants: the axes that actually decide it, and what each choice costs in staleness, latency, tokens, and infrastructure.