The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

ObiWayneKenobi · 2011-06-03 Reply Admin

I don't really see the issue with the first story apart from the brusque way he wrote it. Many software engineers, especially senior ones, find it downright insulting to be asked to do some kind of technical test for a company that they are probably better than. Sure, the guy writing it comes off like a total douchebag bozo but he has a point: You don't belittle candidates with this in-the-box puzzle question bullshit like Microsoft tries to pull (the manhole question, or crossing the bridge, nonsense like that).

I would have refused that as well, although wouldn't have been as much of a jackass in the reply. Ask me for a code sample, ask me to walk through some ideas for a small application (one job interview I had we were discussing how to build a house for a mad scientist and sketching out ideas on a whiteboard), that's fine. But don't ask stupid textbook logic question garbage, because that's a waste of time.

Arancaytar · 2011-06-03 Reply Admin

The Tao gave birth to machine language. Machine language gave birth to the assembler.
The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages.

Each language has its purpose, however humble. Each language expresses the Yin and Yang of software. Each language has its place within the Tao.

But do not program in COBOL if you can avoid it.

Be wary of any programmer cursing a particular language. While it is easier to write good code in some, the quality of the code depends ultimately on the programmer. An experienced programmer may criticize PHP's flat and inconsistently named global function namespace, Javascript's poor DOM traversal or both languages' haphazard object orientation, but when someone rants that a certain language simply "sucks", it is just as likely that they can't use that language very well.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

"using JavaScript is like getting a bad blow–" - to the face. I've been hacking on JavaScript for about 18 months and it doesn't get any better.

nobulate · 2011-06-03 Reply Admin

boog:
"The thing is," he ranted, "using JavaScript is like getting a bad blow–"
No wonder he doesn't like doing front-end work.

He must be a back-end kinda guy.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Arancaytar:
The Tao gave birth to machine language. Machine language gave birth to the assembler.
The assembler gave birth to the compiler. Now there are ten thousand languages.

Each language has its purpose, however humble. Each language expresses the Yin and Yang of software. Each language has its place within the Tao.

But do not program in COBOL if you can avoid it.

Be wary of any programmer cursing a particular language. While it is easier to write good code in some, the quality of the code depends ultimately on the programmer. An experienced programmer may criticize PHP's flat and inconsistently named global function namespace, Javascript's poor DOM traversal or both languages' haphazard object orientation, but when someone rants that a certain language simply "sucks", it is just as likely that they can't use that language very well.

Eh, I rant about Java quite heavily... simply because there are better alternatives (such as C#) that do the same thing... for practically EVERYTHING that Java does, there is a better alternative: hence, it sucks. It is inferior to its competitors overall, and Java itself doesn't appear to have been designed very well - it can be extremely frustrating to use in many situations, whereas using even C++ in the same situations is quite easy (I actually enjoy using C++).

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Cyt:
eXtremeDev:
Last time I was looking for a job, I interviewed with this rather small company. After acing the presented problem in a very limited timeframe (this was the technical part of the interview) and showing the guy my portfolio (some of those apps are live and running on the web), the man proceeded to ask me questions like:

How many people are born in this city every minute?

What is the volume of water on Earth?

I did answer, but once I got home I rethought everything and realized I didn't really want to work for someone who didn't value my technical expertise and treated me like an idiot. Perhaps he was trying to establish pecking order early on, or he genuinely lacks common sense to realize that if an experienced person who has both shown him his portfolio AND solved the technical part should not be asked these kinds of questions.

I emailed him and politely told him I wouldn't be able to take the position.

Actually, he was gauging your ability to fling out estimates on the fly - a skill very useful and needed when dealing with clients - a skill which could not have been gauged in the preceding technical tests.

AFAIR, developers for investment banks often get these kinds of questions at the interviews as well.

The joke's on you for feeling treated like an idiot.

Oh, don't worry, I can estimate those numbers quite easily. But that's not the point.

You can give those questions to some newbie fresh out of college, but doing it to someone with a fair amount of experience in the industry is plain insulting. If he deems it appropriate to decide whether I'm a good candidate by asking me silly and inane "why are manhole covers round" type of questions, he can forget about me working there.

A man's intelligence can be inferred implicitly by paying attention to his code, his previous projects and overall demeanor.

It seems to me that those questions aren't really there to establish your ability to "give estimates on the fly", but rather to gauge your personality and filter for people who are willing to take it up the ass and not complain about it.

Now granted, some big companies tend to ask those questions. If I were interviewing with a big I-bank or a company like Microsoft, I'd probably take it, since they have an established hiring process and you can't do much about it. It's not personal. But it becomes personal when you sit face-to-face with the owner of a small startup who really has the choice not to treat you like a moron, and he still opts to treat you like you're mentally deficient.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

It could have been better. The Recruiter's name could have been Lorena Sanchez.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

eXtremeDev:
Cyt:
eXtremeDev:
Last time I was looking for a job, I interviewed with this rather small company. After acing the presented problem in a very limited timeframe (this was the technical part of the interview) and showing the guy my portfolio (some of those apps are live and running on the web), the man proceeded to ask me questions like:

How many people are born in this city every minute?

What is the volume of water on Earth?

I did answer, but once I got home I rethought everything and realized I didn't really want to work for someone who didn't value my technical expertise and treated me like an idiot. Perhaps he was trying to establish pecking order early on, or he genuinely lacks common sense to realize that if an experienced person who has both shown him his portfolio AND solved the technical part should not be asked these kinds of questions.

I emailed him and politely told him I wouldn't be able to take the position.

Actually, he was gauging your ability to fling out estimates on the fly - a skill very useful and needed when dealing with clients - a skill which could not have been gauged in the preceding technical tests.

AFAIR, developers for investment banks often get these kinds of questions at the interviews as well.

The joke's on you for feeling treated like an idiot.

Oh, don't worry, I can estimate those numbers quite easily. But that's not the point.

You can give those questions to some newbie fresh out of college, but doing it to someone with a fair amount of experience in the industry is plain insulting. If he deems it appropriate to decide whether I'm a good candidate by asking me silly and inane "why are manhole covers round" type of questions, he can forget about me working there.

A man's intelligence can be inferred implicitly by paying attention to his code, his previous projects and overall demeanor.

It seems to me that those questions aren't really there to establish your ability to "give estimates on the fly", but rather to gauge your personality and filter for people who are willing to take it up the ass and not complain about it.

Now granted, some big companies tend to ask those questions. If I were interviewing with a big I-bank or a company like Microsoft, I'd probably take it, since they have an established hiring process and you can't do much about it. It's not personal. But it becomes personal when you sit face-to-face with the owner of a small startup who really has the choice not to treat you like a moron, and he still opts to treat you like you're mentally deficient.

You'd think that someone who reads tdwtf would realize that no matter the amount of experience, or the number of projects worked on.. That's no guarantee for competence

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Andrew:
Cave Johnson applied for a job? Fuck yeah he did!

When life gives you a man with my skills, do this: Take your comment, roll it up, and HIRE ENGINEERS TO INVENT A COMBUSTIBLE COMMENT THAT BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

mjk340:
"Linked List"
"Fine, how could I tell if a string exists in a linked list?"

"Array"

He was simply confused because of the latest addition of the ArrayLinkedList class to all known libraries. Totally understandable.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Jay:
I've never had a case where I looked back and said, "Oh, if only I had not been so polite to that person, I would be so much better off today."

I did, with my ex-wife.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Nagesh2.0:
Larry:
When a big picture recruiter like me with nearly 20 years of experience working with people in FIELD sends you an opportunity for JOB with a company like CLIENT that is pulling down REVENUE per year, here's what you don't do:
Post it to TDWTF!

When a SIZE picture recruiter like me with nearly NUMBER years of experience ADJECTIVE with people in FIELD sends you an opportunity for JOB with a company like CLIENT that is pulling down REVENUE per TIMEFRAME, here's what you don't do:

Post it to TDWTF!

When a commenter with ABILITY humoAMERICANISMr makes a ADJECTIVE-arsed attempt at the recycled meme of replacing FIELDS in the OP, here's what you don't do:

Repeat it.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

cappeca:
Jay:
I've never had a case where I looked back and said, "Oh, if only I had not been so polite to that person, I would be so much better off today."

I did, with my ex-wife.

In local government, incompetent people get "redeployed". They get shifted from pillar to post. Unfortunately, by the time anyone high enough up the food chain realises that they've hired an incompetent, it's too late to do anything about it - if they try and fire it, it'll sue for unfair dismissal, harassment, bullying and victimisation, and the whichever way it goes the employer pays the costs and the manager concerned gets sacked or demoted. I bet they'd say something like "Oh, if only I hadn't been quite so polite to that person, maybe I'd still have my job and even have been promoted by now ..."

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Generic:
–let's call him Paul –
Well, apparently Paul is actually named "he" because the name "Paul" is never mentioned again.

That irked me about the article. It's like declaring a variable and not using it.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Well, if you want to give people a programming test, you could always do something like http://angel.sg01.net/test.php

Though that might be a bit cruel :D

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

eXtremeDev:
Cyt:
Actually, he was gauging your ability to fling out estimates on the fly
Oh, don't worry, I can estimate those numbers quite easily.

I think he was trying to figure out whether you knew the difference between an estimate and a guess. That's a reasonable indicator of the degree of cowboy-ism.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

10+ years of experience doesn't mean you're good. It could mean that you're just competent enough not to fail completely with a different employer every few years, and as soon as you get to the point where you can't fake it any longer ("oh shit, double-linked lists!") you move on.

amischiefr · 2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Me:
I can never understand what is going on in the minds of people like the first guy. Do they actually believe that acting like that will somehow get them the job? Or are they just so full of themselves that they think they're so likely to find a different job that they can afford to burn every bridge they cross just to blow off steam?

What is more likely is that this kind of attitude the person has is exactly the reason they are in the market for a new job.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Erik:
I've worked with people like that in the past - it's hell. Try to get anything done when the one person who is God of Everything spends 20 minutes telling you how brilliant he is and how I couldn't possibly understand what he does. (Yes, that's a real experience.) Arrogant + passive-aggressive + fanboi mentality is a really BAD personality combination!

Worked with one once. When he got on my nerves, I'd dig up the source for something he'd written, figure out how to make it core dump, and then file a bug report.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Proper response to Mr. Big Picture "Thanks for being such an a-hole up front so we didn't discover it after we hired you. We really didn't need someone who was going to do nothing but regurgitate white papers from Gartner/Burton/et al and then rant about how stupid everyone else was when your vague 'ideas' turned out to be poorly conceived and missing answers to the actual hard questions."

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Naah, that's 100% Cave Johnson. I don't think Thomas B was talking shit, considering how he made it passed round 1 of the interview process.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Shaftoe:
I'm on Guy 1s side too. Use little puzzles and tests on CS grads fresh out of school. someone who has been successfully developing software for 10 plus years should have more significant deeper lines of questioning in interviews. No wonder he was insulted. Granted his response was a bit over the top. Probably hit the send button by mistake. Hiring managers and tech interviewers, tailor your interviews to the percieved level of the interviewer

Umm, but how can they know your skill level until they, like, ask you some questions?

Do you really expect to call a company and say, "I'm fully qualified for this job", and they'll reply, "Oh, well, okay then, I guess we needn't bother with all that silly 'interview' stuff."

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

SG_01:
Well, if you want to give people a programming test, you could always do something like http://angel.sg01.net/test.php
Though that might be a bit cruel :D

==== Highlight for Spoilers ====

For the people who got question # wrong:

Shame on you!
Might want to try a different font
That operator is a bit obscure, I know 4 & 5: Might want to review operator precedence

==== End spoilers ====

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

From: Robin Lee To: Lorena C----- Subject: Robin - a great Job Opportunity

Dear Lorena,

Thanks for letting me know about the JOB TITLE job. Yes, I'm very interested in this position. I've been thinking for some time that I'd like to move to CITY. I think it's one of the most interesting and lively places in COUNTRY.

I am certainly qualified for this job as I have over 7 years experience in SHORT JOB DESCRIPTION.

I am a little concerned that the job is only for DURATION. I had been looking for a position that would be for at least DURATION*1.5. But I'm sure we can discuss this further with HR MANAGER.

YourMoFoFriend · 2011-06-03 Reply Admin

eXtremeDev:
It seems to me that those questions aren't really there to establish your ability to "give estimates on the fly", but rather to gauge your personality and filter for people who are willing to take it up the ass and not complain about it.

Is that really such a common occurrence in your work life - companies using your ass for their entertainment? Really?

I agree, sometimes interview questions seem silly (especially to an experienced developer), but given the attitude demonstrated by The Big Picture Thinker, my bet is he is much more likely to be a dickhead rather than a top-notch engineer... and if he is both than I'd probably not want to have him on my team anyway.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

You should always send the "insulting". It was a written test that the guy never received, so how would he know how hard or easy or "in the box" the test was going to be.

When I run interviews, I always run tests because even the questions that I think are insulting end up pushing out at least 90% of the people because they can't seem to answer them.

Undergrad, Graduate, 2+ years experience, 10+ years, etc. Amazing!

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Wait? Isn't it the same thing?

Depending on the level of abstraction you're interested in, no they're not the same thing.

Consider locality of reference. Arrays are stored linearly in memory. This means that the CPU's prefetch can more efficiently gather the soon-to-be-referenced memory data.

A linked list is harder to predict and pipeline. Not to mention that it's harder to parallelize onto multiple threads.

--Joe

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

The Big Picture thinker is probably the same guy who left this voice message to a potential date: www.noob.us/entertainment/the-douchiest-voicemail-in-the-history-of-douchebags/

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Shaftoe:
I'm on Guy 1s side too. Use little puzzles and tests on CS grads fresh out of school. someone who has been successfully developing software for 10 plus years should have more significant deeper lines of questioning in interviews. No wonder he was insulted. Granted his response was a bit over the top. Probably hit the send button by mistake. Hiring managers and tech interviewers, tailor your interviews to the percieved level of the interviewer

Eh, I've seen senior level developers with 15 years of experience who can talk a lot about writing software and throw around buzz words and mostly just state the obvious. But ask them to write something trivial, from scratch, in a language they say they've used for the last five years and they drop the ball.

I don't know how the lasted so long, or what they did in the past. Still, they exist. I'd never be offended if someone asked me to show off what I can do.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

jmucchiello:
Shaftoe:
I'm on Guy 1s side too. Use little puzzles and tests on CS grads fresh out of school. someone who has been successfully developing software for 10 plus years should have more significant deeper lines of questioning in interviews. No wonder he was insulted. Granted his response was a bit over the top. Probably hit the send button by mistake. Hiring managers and tech interviewers, tailor your interviews to the percieved level of the interviewer
I've had too many people with 10+ years of whatever fail basic and simple tests. Not puzzles where the trick is having seen the puzzle before, but tests. For C or C++ create a simple function to insert a record into a linked list. I don't care if C++ comes with built in libraries for linked lists, the point of the test is to see if you understand what a pointer is. I can't count how many 10+ years with C/C++ folks I've not even come close to being able to do this without committing terrible logical errors.

Way to test if people can code 20 years ago. I had an interview once where I politely told the guy that I do know pointers, but that if anyone actually used UNSAFE code in C# instead of the built-in lists, that it would be very unwise.

Despite raining on his parade (again, politely), I got offered the job (but I took a higher-paying one).

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Anonymous:
mjk340:
I have a short list of 'bullshit detector' questions I ask on the first interview, which includes, "What might be more efficient, finding an element in an array or a linked list?"
I know what you're thinking - terrible question, it depends on so many factors. Are the elements sorted? Is it a singly linked list or a skip list? How big is the list? What does efficient even mean (run time, storage, cache effects...) And on and on. If you start asking questions like this, or even touch on any of these topics while giving an answer, I am satisfied and will move on.

I interviewed a 15+ year experience guy with every popular language known to man on his resume. He said "Array".

I asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Er, no, I mean linked list."

"Why?"

"Array"

"Relax, this isn't a trick question. Let's say I have an array of strings. How can I tell if a given string already exists in the array?"

"Linked List"

"Fine, how could I tell if a string exists in a linked list?"

"Array"

Wait? Isn't it the same thing? Both would need linear time for search unless you are allowed to sort, but if you are allowed to sort, then you can sort the linked list as well, and it is the same thing.

Linked lists have to follow pointers repeatedly while arrays go directly to a memory address. Following 100 pointers may be fast, but it still requires 100 memory reads. Array references require zero memory reads since the address will most likely be filled in during compile time. If not, it's still only 1.

Today, this probably makes zero difference in 99% of cases, since CPUs can do about a million things a second anyway.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

Anonymous:
mjk340:
I have a short list of 'bullshit detector' questions I ask on the first interview, which includes, "What might be more efficient, finding an element in an array or a linked list?"

Wait? Isn't it the same thing? Both would need linear time for search unless you are allowed to sort, but if you are allowed to sort, then you can sort the linked list as well, and it is the same thing.

No at all. In addition to what others have already pointed out, if you know that the array is sorted, you can do an easy and efficient binary search. Not so easy on a linked list since access is sequential rather than random.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

jkupski:
To sum up: the toes you step on today may be connected to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.

If you never kiss anyone's ass, then you don't need to worry about it. Simple.

2011-06-03 Reply Admin

mjk340:
Anonymous:
Wait? Isn't it the same thing? Both would need linear time for search unless you are allowed to sort, but if you are allowed to sort, then you can sort the linked list as well, and it is the same thing.

I make it a point to tell the candidates that the questions are open ended and meant to spur discussion, and that there isn't really a right or wrong answer.

Rather than answer your question, I'll ask you what I would have asked you in the interview as a follow up: How would you jump to the center of a linked list to perform the first comparison in a binary search?

With a pogo stick.

Alternatively, magic.

cloudberry · 2011-06-04 Reply Admin

Thomas B-------:

From: Thomas B------- Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 10:37 AM To: James S------ Subject: RE: Written Test

When a big picture thinker with nearly 20 years of experience in IT sends you a resume and cover letter like mine and says that he can help you win a client that is pulling in 1.3 Billion per year, here's what you don't do:

Set up an interview with a couple of in-the-box thinking Microsoft drones with questions on minutia.
Hand him a test to see what his "style", attention to detail, and problem solving approach is.

Here's my style: I am certain that I can run circles around your best developers with my own, original, incredibly efficient model; but more importantly, I am a director that can help them run circles around their own current misguided misconceptions. But I am thankful for this lesson, as I have learned that I need to add a cover to my cover letter that reads: If you are an in-the-box thinking Microsoft house, and you find yourself regurgitating terms like OOP, MVC, TDD, BDD, Cucumber, etc..., without really understanding what it all means and how much it is actually costing your company to have bought into that industry pushed bullshit, then DO NOT contact me. I'd save you too much money, and you obviously do not want that.

So the question now is: Did I pass the test?

The answer is: Fuck yes I did.

Thomas B-------

PS. You forgot to attach the quiz.

Do this: Print out a copy of it, ball it up, and throw it at your own forehead, because that's what I would do if I were there.

James S------:

From: James S------ Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 11:44 AM To: Thomas B------- Subject: RE: Written Test

So, does this mean you're not interested in the job anymore?

James S------

2011-06-04 Reply Admin

You mean, you can use C# to write cross-platform apps?

2011-06-04 Reply Admin

I have to say that I can see where the first guy is coming from. The style of the email indicates a mentally unstable person whom you probably don't want working for your organization, but I myself get more and more annoyed by recruiters sending my resume for senior developer positions and companies asking me questions like "what is an interface" and "how do you apply a CSS style". Guys, if you get "senior" resumes who don't know what interfaces are, stop working with that recruiter, and if you really think that it's worth your and my time asking these kinds of questions "just to make sure", then look elsewhere.

2011-06-04 Reply Admin

Hey, that job opportunity looks just right for me! As you can see I have just the right skill set and experience required:

RESUME

2011-06-06 Reply Admin

Looks like a full mental block. You'd need to figure out whether something like it would be likely to occur under normal working conditions.

2011-06-06 Reply Admin

Me:
I can never understand what is going on in the minds of people like the first guy. Do they actually believe that acting like that will somehow get them the job? Or are they just so full of themselves that they think they're so likely to find a different job that they can afford to burn every bridge they cross just to blow off steam?

If you were sending this to the interviewer's boss, then I can see this as a sort of Hail Mary play. Try to position yourself as so far above the maroons you have working for you now that the quiz is beneath you. (This assumes you can BS the one-up into believing you sight unseen.)

Sending that pile of drenn to the interviewer? This is either someone who didn't want the job, or someone very, very stupid.

2011-06-06 Reply Admin

I know this is an old post, but the first guy is a tool.

BS ability is easy in geek jobs. If a manager can't and doesn't measure you properly, it's easy to hide out even with no ability. How many people moved college homework projects as work projects? A roommate had a project that filled a 2 dimensional array with 'stores' and gave a datapoint as input, show me the closest 'store'. He dressed it up so it looked like GPS.

I had another guy I interviewed that supposedly did kernel work. Something equivalent to NATting. I felt I may insult him when I asked my screener question - linked lists. He failed miserably. If I just assumed he knew it, we may have hired him. And a 'kernel hacker' couldn't do a linked list.

On the other end, there's my ex-boss Chris' friend Mike. Chris was a hard core geek, doing TSRs for the hell of it. Mike was totally nontechnical, but had learned enough buzzwords from Chris that he literally had HR folks chase him at parties to hire him as a developer.

Even if it's justified to feel insulted (and he didn't even see the questions, the attachment was forgotten, so hard for me to se justification) the reaction was over the top. The OP said that developers had to interface with clients occasionally. What if a client asked a 'stupid question' and this guy shits all over the contract?

So this guy has unknown tech skills, and he's shown himself to be a dick. I'd shred the resume.

CAPTCHA: feugiat Made me thing of a feudal gay man for some reason.

2011-06-07 Reply Admin

Oh fuck. I'm always looking for new awesome hackers to hire, and I would hire this two first motherfuckers^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hprogrammers without a doubt.

Really, if you guys are reading, post contact information, you'll fit in our team like a glove.

(BTW: Javascript really is like a bad blowjob. At first, you want it. You think it'll get the job done, but getting through it can be as awkward as painful. In the end, you reach your goal, but you feel empty and disappointed, but hey, it's still better than nothing. )

2011-06-08 Reply Admin

Welcome to the Arpeture Science testing facility. We are sure you, <SUBJECT NAME HERE>, are the pride and joy of <SUBJECT HOMETOWN HERE>

2011-06-08 Reply Admin

Me:
I can never understand what is going on in the minds of people like the first guy. Do they actually believe that acting like that will somehow get them the job? Or are they just so full of themselves that they think they're so likely to find a different job that they can afford to burn every bridge they cross just to blow off steam?

i'm always looking for people like this, as long as they do actually know how to do all that crap. these types of interviews are insulting to many people for good reason, and i'm glad they have these types of interviews because otherwise a lot of bad matches would be made.

2011-06-08 Reply Admin

SG_01:
SG_01:
Well, if you want to give people a programming test, you could always do something like http://angel.sg01.net/test.php
Though that might be a bit cruel :D

==== Highlight for Spoilers ====
For the people who got question # wrong:

Shame on you!

Might want to try a different font

That operator is a bit obscure, I know 4 & 5: Might want to review operator precedence

==== End spoilers ====

how come #5 question is: true || false && false

and the answer page shows: true && false || true

Arancaytar · 2011-06-09 Reply Admin

mjk340:
I have a short list of 'bullshit detector' questions I ask on the first interview, which includes, "What might be more efficient, finding an element in an array or a linked list?"
I know what you're thinking - terrible question, it depends on so many factors. Are the elements sorted? Is it a singly linked list or a skip list? How big is the list? What does efficient even mean (run time, storage, cache effects...) And on and on. If you start asking questions like this, or even touch on any of these topics while giving an answer, I am satisfied and will move on.

I interviewed a 15+ year experience guy with every popular language known to man on his resume. He said "Array".

I asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Er, no, I mean linked list."

"Why?"

"Array"

"Relax, this isn't a trick question. Let's say I have an array of strings. How can I tell if a given string already exists in the array?"

"Linked List"

"Fine, how could I tell if a string exists in a linked list?"

"Array"

I like the mental image that the poor guy kept on repeating this until you thanked him for his time and told him you'd be in touch, and he went out the door saying "Array".

2011-06-09 Reply Admin

drdamour:
SG_01:
SG_01:
Well, if you want to give people a programming test, you could always do something like http://angel.sg01.net/test.php
Though that might be a bit cruel :D

==== Highlight for Spoilers ====
For the people who got question # wrong:

Shame on you!

Might want to try a different font

That operator is a bit obscure, I know 4 & 5: Might want to review operator precedence

==== End spoilers ====

how come #5 question is: true || false && false

and the answer page shows: true && false || true

To figure out if you're paying attention of course ;)

woodle · 2011-06-09 Reply Admin

Hairstyles of the Rich and Famous:
“The thing is,” he ranted, “using JavaScript is like getting a bad blow–“
I know! The way I pull my hair out when I'm writing JavaScript, it's just like a bad blow-dry!

You're doing it wrong.

Addendum (2011-06-09 23:11): Edit: Too slow, and too obvious.

2011-06-10 Reply Admin

I like this guy. I'd hire him!

2011-06-10 Reply Admin

"1. How many people are born in this city every minute? "

Estimate population - UK is about 50 million, so my big city is about 500k Halve it to remove men = 250k Assume equal number of people of each age Assume people die at 75 Use assumptions to remove people not likely to be pregnant - those < 16 years or > 45 years old - so remove 45 years worth of people in 250k group = 110k Assume 5% of 'pregnant capable' women are pregnant now = 5k (biggest uninformed guess I've made) Assume they have even distribution of dates to give birth = 5k/365 = 13 per day on average

Sounds about right for a city of 500k.

Estimation, showing assumptions and methodology, is not a useless skill.

The Big Picture Thinker, A JavaScript-like Job, and The Job Opportunity

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