4 ms·

This is an old brain-teaser... when it's stated precisely enough, that is. And it's one which every developer should be able to answer; but Eric Schmidt is not

This is an old brain-teaser... when it's stated precisely enough, that is. And it's one which every developer should be able to answer; but Eric Schmidt is not a developer, so his inability to answer it -- especially off-the-cuff, as opposed to working through it in an interview -- is irrelevant. All told, I'm calling this one clickbait. EDIT: Here's the puzzle, and solution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_game

mxschumacher 10y ago
He has a Ph.D. in computer engineering, little absurd to say "he is not a developer"
- cperciva 10y ago
  90% of computer science professors aren't developers either. A degree and a profession are not at all the same thing.
  - mxschumacher 10y ago
    doesn't matter look at his bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Schmidt#Career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Schmidt#Career
    - cperciva 10y ago
      I see nothing there which indicates that he has written even a single line of code in the past 30 years.
- markrages 10y ago
  He wrote lex(1). He's an old-school Unix hacker.
kafkaesq 10y ago
I think the basic point is: "If you can dish, you can take."
- cperciva 10y ago
  But that doesn't make any sense. If I wanted to hire a chef, I'd ask her to cook a few meals for me to sample; if I wanted to hire a photographer, I'd ask to see his portfolio; if I wanted to hire a physicist, I'd ask to read papers she had published. These are all perfectly valid and relevant things to ask in an interview despite the fact that I have no culinary talents, have no photographic portfolio, and have never published a paper in physics.
  - kafkaesq 10y ago
    Except the Pirate Game isn't a work sample -- it's a brain teaser. And even though brain teasers are now considered passé, for a long time many companies, including quite famously, Google, did ask them (in many cases very proudly) -- just like they continue to ask their modern-day equivalent: "recite a moderately, or in some cases, insanely complex algorithm for me which I just looked up, but I bet you haven't!" -- as an expedient alternative to an actual, realistic work sample.
    - cperciva 10y ago
      This isn't a brain teaser; it's a logic problem. Someone who has never seen the problem before should be able to logically work through it to find the solution.
      - kafkaesq 10y ago
        You say logic problem, I say brain teaser. The point is, it's not a work sample.

mxschumacher 10y ago

He has a Ph.D. in computer engineering, little absurd to say "he is not a developer"

cperciva 10y ago
90% of computer science professors aren't developers either. A degree and a profession are not at all the same thing.
- mxschumacher 10y ago
  doesn't matter look at his bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Schmidt#Career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Schmidt#Career
  - cperciva 10y ago
    I see nothing there which indicates that he has written even a single line of code in the past 30 years.
markrages 10y ago
He wrote lex(1). He's an old-school Unix hacker.

kafkaesq 10y ago

I think the basic point is: "If you can dish, you can take."

cperciva 10y ago
But that doesn't make any sense. If I wanted to hire a chef, I'd ask her to cook a few meals for me to sample; if I wanted to hire a photographer, I'd ask to see his portfolio; if I wanted to hire a physicist, I'd ask to read papers she had published. These are all perfectly valid and relevant things to ask in an interview despite the fact that I have no culinary talents, have no photographic portfolio, and have never published a paper in physics.
- kafkaesq 10y ago
  Except the Pirate Game isn't a work sample -- it's a brain teaser. And even though brain teasers are now considered passé, for a long time many companies, including quite famously, Google, did ask them (in many cases very proudly) -- just like they continue to ask their modern-day equivalent: "recite a moderately, or in some cases, insanely complex algorithm for me which I just looked up, but I bet you haven't!" -- as an expedient alternative to an actual, realistic work sample.
  - cperciva 10y ago
    This isn't a brain teaser; it's a logic problem. Someone who has never seen the problem before should be able to logically work through it to find the solution.
    - kafkaesq 10y ago
      You say logic problem, I say brain teaser. The point is, it's not a work sample.