Silly craptastic interview question

interviewLulz.php

<?php
/**
 * I was given a really silly sorting question to write out in pseudo code once after spending 9 hours traveling
 * to the HQ of the employer and running on about 3 hours of sleep.
 * I figured I'd do poorly, and I did, but I explained my method.
 * I just wasn't able to get the code on the board without constantly erasing and not having a clear head so I was
 * passed over for another candidate.
 * I named this interviewLulz because I find it lulzworthy when an employer uses sorting questions as their test when
 * the sorting requested is:
 * A) Ridiculous.
 * B) Library fodder - the actual facilities of sorting a set have so little to do with the day-to-day job.
 * 
 * This is why when I interview someone, I bring sanitized/safe for disclosure code from our actual codebase and
 * have the prospective employee work on actual problems or ask them how they'd improve something.
 * At my current employer - they have them pair with us.
 * Whiteboard coding and 'trick' coding questions during interviews are for the old guard.
 * 
 * 
 * Lately I've been trying to rid myself of past interview anxiety as I look at the job market and try to decide if I
 * should move on, but the fact that I never got the code down for this interview still bugged me.
 * 
 * So, since that interview in question irked me so, I figured I'd write a solution to it to get it off my back...
 * And then I wrote a solution for a slight modification to the initial problem they posed to me.
 * And since it's lulzworthy - I did both in about 10 minutes total in some real shitty PHP :D
 * Hopefully my mind will be at peace now.
 */

$randomNumbers = [];

//"array could be any length of non-unique numbers"
for ($i = 0; $i < 20; $i++) {
    $randomNumbers[] = mt_rand(0, 20); //I chose this range just for easier reading
}
$totalItems = count($randomNumbers);

echo "Our numbers to be sorted:\n";
echo join(', ', $randomNumbers) . "\n";

sort($randomNumbers, SORT_NUMERIC); //SORT!
$lowerHalf = array_splice($randomNumbers, round($totalItems/2));
rsort($lowerHalf, SORT_NUMERIC); //ANOTHER SORT! lulz
$compiledArray = [];
for ($i = 0; $i < $totalItems; $i++) {
    if ($i % 2) {
        $compiledArray[] = array_shift($lowerHalf);
    } else {
        $compiledArray[] = array_shift($randomNumbers);
    }
}

echo "\nOMGZ Array sorted a >= b <= c modified interview method:\n";
for ($i = 0; $i < $totalItems; $i++) {
    if ($i < ($totalItems - 1)) {
        $signageString = ($i % 2) ? " >= " : " <= "; //wat
        echo $compiledArray[$i] . $signageString;
    } else {
        echo $compiledArray[$i] . "\n";
    }

}


rsort($compiledArray, SORT_NUMERIC); //WHY NOT A SORT?
$randomNumbers = $compiledArray; //wat
$compiledArray = []; //OH NO REUSE
$lowerHalf = array_splice($randomNumbers, round($totalItems/2)); //didn't we do this already
for ($i = 0; $i < $totalItems; $i++) { //I heard you like for loops
    if ($i % 2) { //we aren't calculating tips commonnnnnn
        $compiledArray[] = array_shift($lowerHalf);
    } else {
        $compiledArray[] = array_shift($randomNumbers);
    }
}

echo "OMGZ Array sorted a <= b >= c interview method:\n";
for ($i = 0; $i < $totalItems; $i++) {
    if ($i < $totalItems - 1) {
        $signageString = ($i % 2) ? " <= " : " >= "; //wat
        echo $compiledArray[$i] . $signageString;
    } else {
        echo $compiledArray[$i] . "\n\n";
    }
}