5 ms·

Tbh I didn't enjoy the article, it just seems like someone who has just learned about Node.js tried to explain (and mostly failed) how to use some packages to s

by XCSme 10y ago

Tbh I didn't enjoy the article, it just seems like someone who has just learned about Node.js tried to explain (and mostly failed) how to use some packages to scrape a page. I was expecting to learn some new techniques, but all it explained was how to make a few API calls in order to solve a very specific problem. Also, there was the overall arrogant tone: "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails ", this just shows a lot of immaturity.

franciskim 10y ago
Thanks for your feedback, I do appreciate it.
- kentt 10y ago
  Not many people can take criticism is stride like that. You are awesome.
  - franciskim 10y ago
    :)
- state 10y ago
  As a counterpoint: I think this article is fantastic. API restrictions are incredibly annoying when they pertain to what I consider to be my data. Should data and interface be so tightly joined? Of course not.
  - ProAm 10y ago
    What is your data? EDIT - Completely serious, you mean data you put on other peoples servers, using their services and expect them to let you have it back when and however you want it? Let's be serious here. You're lucky they let you access it at all.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
nathancahill 10y ago
Part of the turnoff for me was the middle-schooler tone and vocabulary. Good walkthrough with good code examples though, obviously written by a very smart JS dev.
- franciskim 10y ago
  Ok, I'll try to explain to this thread. I actually thought about removing the Facebook part, but I kept it in there because that is kind of how I felt and it is real. The middle-schooler tone and vocab is probably because I don't read a lot of books, and English is my 2nd language. In reply to XCSme - no I am not new to Node and my point of the post is to illustrate some of the techniques that I haven't seen published anywhere to HN and the community. My focus is quite different from what you think it is, so maybe it is my bad for bad writing skills, I'm still new to writing and learning.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- franciskim 10y ago
  Ok guys, I've elaborated a bit - tried to make the aim of the post a bit clearer, and I've removed the stuff about Facebook because I don't want to discomfort other readers. It's 5:25AM, it's been a crazy morning and I've got work tomorrow! XD
- 23andwalnut 10y ago
  Since when is a 'middle-schooler vocabulary' a bad thing? I distinctly remember learning on hn (when the Hemingway app became popular) that simple is better for readability. https://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/28/this-surprising-reading-level-analysis-will-change-the-way-you-write/ https://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/28/this-surprising-...
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
kafkaesq 10y ago
I had a different take -- if one hasn't been keeping up with the "arms race" of modern web scraping (and the countermeasures some sites are adopting these days), or with the JS scraping ecosystem generally, then it seems like this article could make for a decent introduction.
fizx 10y ago
As someone who has written a scraping framework, this article is useful AF. > but all it explained was how to make a few API calls in order to solve a very specific problem. Yeah, the very specific problems everyone runs into time after time. He presents specific solutions, and reasonable context. If I was googling for one of these problems, I'd be very happy to run into this page. > Also, there was the overall arrogant tone: "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails " Your arrogance is my matter-of-fact.
- zasz 10y ago
  You can't count as 'matter-of-fact' if you're not even bothering to communicate.
jhwhite 10y ago
>Also, there was the overall arrogant tone: "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails ", this just shows a lot of immaturity. I'm not saying you're one of these people, but it's frustrating when companies do this to potential employees and the potential is told by friends and other management type people, "well that's the company you just have to deal with it". When someone flips it on the company then it's immature. I applied somewhere recently and they invited me out to a pre-interview lunch. That went well so they called me in for an interview. That went well and the VP told me he would call me back to set up a second (third?) interview. I never heard back from him. An ex-coworker there went to the VP to find out what was going on and the VP said he decided he wanted someone with more experience in the specific area they're working in. But last he told me was he liked me and would schedule another interview, then when he changed his mind he never let me know. I think people on both sides should be courteous and respectful through the process, but if employers are treating interviewees poorly then they shouldn't be surprised when they start getting treated poorly.
- wtracy 10y ago
  >When someone flips it on the company then it's immature. First, it's hard to know when companies are doing this intentionally versus when things just get lost in the shuffle. (Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence, and all that.) Meanwhile, the author was clearly ignoring the interviewer intentionally. Second, the fact that Company A treated you rudely doesn't give you license to treat unrelated Company B rudely. For that matter, I'm not sure that the fact that Employee 1 at Company A treated you rudely gives you moral license to treat Employee 2 at Company A rudely. Show a little compassion for someone trapped in a dead-end job trying to put food on their family's table, for crying out loud.
namelezz 10y ago
> "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails ", this just shows a lot of immaturity. I believe you should treat others how you want to be treated. FYI, recruiters do not usually follow up with rejected candidates and many are unresponsive. It's their way of telling candidates they are no longer interested.
- XCSme 10y ago
  When I interviewed for Google the recruiter was really nice and called to tell me that I didn't make it. I also gave her feedback on what I thought went wrong in the interview and what was wrong with their interview process. I don't know how the ones at Facebook are, but my recruiter did her job well and I appreciated that, even though some interviewers messed up.

by XCSme 10y ago

franciskim 10y ago

Thanks for your feedback, I do appreciate it.

kentt 10y ago
Not many people can take criticism is stride like that. You are awesome.
- franciskim 10y ago
  :)
state 10y ago
As a counterpoint: I think this article is fantastic. API restrictions are incredibly annoying when they pertain to what I consider to be my data. Should data and interface be so tightly joined? Of course not.
- ProAm 10y ago
  What is your data? EDIT - Completely serious, you mean data you put on other peoples servers, using their services and expect them to let you have it back when and however you want it? Let's be serious here. You're lucky they let you access it at all.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

nathancahill 10y ago

Part of the turnoff for me was the middle-schooler tone and vocabulary. Good walkthrough with good code examples though, obviously written by a very smart JS dev.

franciskim 10y ago
Ok, I'll try to explain to this thread. I actually thought about removing the Facebook part, but I kept it in there because that is kind of how I felt and it is real. The middle-schooler tone and vocab is probably because I don't read a lot of books, and English is my 2nd language. In reply to XCSme - no I am not new to Node and my point of the post is to illustrate some of the techniques that I haven't seen published anywhere to HN and the community. My focus is quite different from what you think it is, so maybe it is my bad for bad writing skills, I'm still new to writing and learning.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
franciskim 10y ago
Ok guys, I've elaborated a bit - tried to make the aim of the post a bit clearer, and I've removed the stuff about Facebook because I don't want to discomfort other readers. It's 5:25AM, it's been a crazy morning and I've got work tomorrow! XD
23andwalnut 10y ago
Since when is a 'middle-schooler vocabulary' a bad thing? I distinctly remember learning on hn (when the Hemingway app became popular) that simple is better for readability. https://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/28/this-surprising-reading-level-analysis-will-change-the-way-you-write/ https://contently.com/strategist/2015/01/28/this-surprising-...
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

kafkaesq 10y ago

I had a different take -- if one hasn't been keeping up with the "arms race" of modern web scraping (and the countermeasures some sites are adopting these days), or with the JS scraping ecosystem generally, then it seems like this article could make for a decent introduction.

fizx 10y ago

As someone who has written a scraping framework, this article is useful AF. > but all it explained was how to make a few API calls in order to solve a very specific problem. Yeah, the very specific problems everyone runs into time after time. He presents specific solutions, and reasonable context. If I was googling for one of these problems, I'd be very happy to run into this page. > Also, there was the overall arrogant tone: "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails " Your arrogance is my matter-of-fact.

zasz 10y ago
You can't count as 'matter-of-fact' if you're not even bothering to communicate.

jhwhite 10y ago

>Also, there was the overall arrogant tone: "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails ", this just shows a lot of immaturity. I'm not saying you're one of these people, but it's frustrating when companies do this to potential employees and the potential is told by friends and other management type people, "well that's the company you just have to deal with it". When someone flips it on the company then it's immature. I applied somewhere recently and they invited me out to a pre-interview lunch. That went well so they called me in for an interview. That went well and the VP told me he would call me back to set up a second (third?) interview. I never heard back from him. An ex-coworker there went to the VP to find out what was going on and the VP said he decided he wanted someone with more experience in the specific area they're working in. But last he told me was he liked me and would schedule another interview, then when he changed his mind he never let me know. I think people on both sides should be courteous and respectful through the process, but if employers are treating interviewees poorly then they shouldn't be surprised when they start getting treated poorly.

wtracy 10y ago
>When someone flips it on the company then it's immature. First, it's hard to know when companies are doing this intentionally versus when things just get lost in the shuffle. (Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence, and all that.) Meanwhile, the author was clearly ignoring the interviewer intentionally. Second, the fact that Company A treated you rudely doesn't give you license to treat unrelated Company B rudely. For that matter, I'm not sure that the fact that Employee 1 at Company A treated you rudely gives you moral license to treat Employee 2 at Company A rudely. Show a little compassion for someone trapped in a dead-end job trying to put food on their family's table, for crying out loud.

namelezz 10y ago

> "I found their interview approach a bit of a turn off so I did not proceed to the next interview and ignored her emails ", this just shows a lot of immaturity. I believe you should treat others how you want to be treated. FYI, recruiters do not usually follow up with rejected candidates and many are unresponsive. It's their way of telling candidates they are no longer interested.

XCSme 10y ago
When I interviewed for Google the recruiter was really nice and called to tell me that I didn't make it. I also gave her feedback on what I thought went wrong in the interview and what was wrong with their interview process. I don't know how the ones at Facebook are, but my recruiter did her job well and I appreciated that, even though some interviewers messed up.