CONFESS! Programmers Are Confessing Their Coding Sins!

[Zenaan Harkness]

On Thu, Mar 02, 2017 at 02:22:34PM +1000, James A. Donald wrote:
> On 3/2/2017 1:00 PM, Razer wrote:
> >>A number of programmers have taken it Twitter to bring it to
> >>everyone's, but particularly recruiter's, attention about the grueling
> >>interview process in their field that relies heavily on technical
> >>questions.
> >>
> >>David Heinemeier Hansson, a well-known programmer and the creator of
> >>the popular Ruby on Rails coding framework, started it when he
> >>tweeted, "Hello, my name is David. I would fail to write bubble sort
> >>on a whiteboard. I look code up on the internet all the time. I don't
> >>do riddles." Another coder added, "Hello, my name is Tim. I'm a lead
> >>at Google with over 30 years coding experience and I need to look up
> >>how to get length of a python string." Another coder chimed in, "Hello
> >>my name is Mike, I'm a GDE and lead at NY Times, I don't know what np
> >>complete means. Should I?"
> >>
> >>A feature story on The Outline adds:
> >>
> >>>This interview style, widely used by major tech companies including
> >>>Google and Amazon, typically pits candidates against a whiteboard
> >>>without access to reference material -- a scenario working
> >>>programmers say is demoralizing and an unrealistic test of actual
> >>>ability. People spend weeks preparing for this process, afraid that
> >>>the interviewer will quiz them on the one obscure algorithm they
> >>>haven't studied. "
> >>>
> >>A cottage industry has emerged that reminds us uncomfortably of SAT
> >>prep," Karla Monterroso, VP of programs for Code2040, an organization
> >>for black and Latino techies, wrote in a critique of the whiteboard
> >>interview. [...] This means companies tend to favor recent computer
> >>science grads from top-tier schools who have had time to cram; in
> >>other words, it doesn't help diversify the field with women, older
> >>people, and people of color.
> >>
> >
> >With links:
> >https://developers.slashdot.org/story/17/03/01/1643251/programmers-are-confessing-their-coding-sins-to-protest-a-broken-job-interview-process
> 
> 
> I have not studied any of these things since forever and a day, but I can
> still pass all of them, and anyone who cannot, should not be hired.
> 
> I think the last time I read what a bubble sort was, or had to think about a
> bubble sort, was when I read Knuth, more decades ago than I care to admit,
> and yet I can do a bubble sort off the top of my head on a whiteboard.

Attempts to sidestep with (e.g.) "Oh, bubble sort's not a good example,
what I should have said was ..." in 3 .. 2 ..


> If companies have a lot of people who could not pass these tests, or could
> not pass them without cramming, they should fire a lot of people.

Now there's an idea! Snap computer science drills by your employer ...
Microsoft used to cull the bottom x% (20%?) of their workforce each year
or so, and this might be a way to be 'politically correct' about that
process of culling ...

"We might not have secure employees, but at least they all damn well
know their np- from their turing- completes :D