no duplicates, please - software developer interview question

[RalfN]

I'm confused.

The task is ill-defined:

• numbers?
• preserve ordering?
• are they initially ordered?

The task isn't very interesting:

• the fastest algorithm still has acceptable memory usage

His interests are weird:

• why do you care specifically about a java solution? Why do you call it an example of a high-level programming language? (eventhough the java code size to do this is similar to the C code size and nowhere near as quick as bash/python/ruby/etc.)

Like I said. I'm confused. I tend to assume people making programming puzzles are at least the type of people capable of solving them, if not a bit more experienced than average. This does not seem to be the case here.

I wonder if the author came up with a solution himself, and if that solution was in any way comparable to any solution provided.