tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554166144204741789.post4502073407986954819..comments2023-12-31T02:16:32.747-08:00Comments on 1-800-MAGIC: Office SpaceSergey Solyanikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03811112928687191837noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554166144204741789.post-67930573445102610322008-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:002008-08-25T19:14:00.000-07:00The way computer science skills are tested in the ...<I>The way computer science skills are tested in the interview are by having an interviewee solve an algorithmic problem, with possible segues into computer architecture (is your solution memory or CPU bound?).</I><BR/><BR/>The way this is done will either turn folks off, or not. It has to be done right. I do too choose my companies. The ones where the interviewers trot out a half dozen "puzzle problems" from their neat little books of artificial puzzle problems are the ones I choose not to work at. I'm too busy solving real problems to worry about the best solution to some artificial problem that will never been seen in real life. You ask me to solve a real problem, I'll whip you out a solution ASAP off the top of my head and it'll be a workable solution. You give me BS at the interview stage, I go elsewhere, because experience shows that it'll be BS after that too. <BR/><BR/>Yeah, I'm a bit ornery these days. Worked too often for pointy-haired bosses with no clue or, worse yet, Google-style "non-management". Luckily I don't have to put up with that nonsense to make a good living doing what I do (architecting and designing cool software, whipping out proof-of-concept prototypes ASAP, and managing the implementation teams that turn the prototypes into real products). <BR/><BR/>Does this disqualify me from working at, say, Google or Microsoft? Hard to say. Google and Microsoft keep calling me, and I keep telling them that I'm not interested. Engineers choose too. And I choose not to put up with BS beyond the normal day-to-day stuff that comes with being part of a team of developers. Works for me. Doesn't work for a fresh newbie right out of college, but that's a different tale.BadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554166144204741789.post-15131796106434674792008-08-14T00:51:00.000-07:002008-08-14T00:51:00.000-07:00Thank you, Sergey, for your explanation. I think I...Thank you, Sergey, for your explanation. I think I will start learning C and C++. And may be one day we will work together :)Voronetskyy Yevgenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039539644880855488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554166144204741789.post-7483149266720037512008-08-13T14:59:00.000-07:002008-08-13T14:59:00.000-07:00Actually, I LOVE Java. I used it at Google (and I ...Actually, I LOVE Java. I used it at Google (and I even had a readability in Java there), and in my personal projects. I wrote the Gutenberg proxy in Java, for example. There are certain projects for which it is absolutely invaluable. And it is certainly possible to write great software in it.<BR/><BR/>But I think it is very hard to become a great developer (including Java developer) if one ONLY knows Java (or C#, or Python - other languages I like, - or VB. Or STL). To be a great developer one must understand computer architecture and algorithms, and Java hides both too well.<BR/><BR/>For this reason I hate the fact that most universities adopted Java as THE language of their curriculum, and I always suggest that new grads find a job they can learn and use C/C++.<BR/><BR/>I also have a policy in my own teams that new graduates don't get to use STL until they've thoroughly learned everything about pointers, and nobody gets to use STL unless they know well how STL primitives are implemented inside.Sergey Solyanikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03811112928687191837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554166144204741789.post-16082209229053568672008-08-13T13:47:00.000-07:002008-08-13T13:47:00.000-07:00Hello Sergey,First of all, thank you for your blog...Hello Sergey,<BR/>First of all, thank you for your blog . It's really very intresting. I'm a Java developer and I have noticed that you don't like the Java language. I have a lot of respect for your professional success and I would like to ask you: "Do you think, that making a great software is preferable with C/C++?" Maybe, I'll change Java on C++... Best regards, Genya.Voronetskyy Yevgenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03039539644880855488noreply@blogger.com