4 ms·

FWIW, I'll look at a candidate's Github account whenever they list it on their resume. That doesn't mean I'll bring it up during the interview unless there was

FWIW, I'll look at a candidate's Github account whenever they list it on their resume. That doesn't mean I'll bring it up during the interview unless there was something particularly interesting to talk about. It's pretty useful for screening candidates, especially looking at code written <1 year ago. I do keep in mind that code written in free time might not have the same standards as production code, but often there are some red flags that carry over.

candiodari 9y ago
You realize that github dates can easily be falsified, right ? Besides, you are only using this as a negative ? So you'll actually hire people who don't put in extra effort over people who put slightly substandard free time code online ? That seems like a losing strategy. I've always found that willingness to put in effort vastly outperforms ability. Not to an infinite extent, but quite a bit.
- trevor-e 9y ago
  >You realize that github dates can easily be falsified, right ? Yea, but why would someone bother in this case? >Besides, you are only using this as a negative ? So you'll actually hire people who don't put in extra effort over people who put slightly substandard free time code online ? That seems like a losing strategy. That's not what I said at all. It's potentially a positive or a negative, just like anything else on a resume. I've seen plenty of Github profiles that have files with 2000 lines of spaghetti code and no structure or testability. Just like I've seen profiles with neat projects and excellent code. >I've always found that willingness to put in effort vastly outperforms ability. Not to an infinite extent, but quite a bit. I agree with this in general too.
- mi100hael 9y ago
  > You realize that github dates can easily be falsified, right ? If someone knows that much git, I'd hire them regardless. I'm so sick of untangling other peoples failed merges or trying to explain what the "not a fast-forward" issue means when their push fails.
  - asmdev 9y ago
    To be fair to the people whose merges failed, I believe this is a shortcoming of git (the tool) and not the people using it. It is fair to expect a developer to invest sometime in learning their tools well but git is a different beast. I know it solves a very complex problem but the fact that it exposes a complex interface to the user to do so seems like a shortcoming of the tool to me. Heck, we even have a comic for it that shows how sometimes just saving my work, deleting my clone, re-cloning the repo and applying the changes in my work is easier than understanding the Git error messages: https://xkcd.com/1597/ https://xkcd.com/1597/. The tooltip in the comic is also sound advice: If that doesn't fix it, git.txt contains the phone number of a friend of mine who understands git. Just wait through a few minutes of 'It's really pretty simple, just think of branches as...' and eventually you'll learn the commands that will fix everything.
    - nathan_f77 9y ago
      Haha nooooo, it's really not that difficult! I really don't think git is a different beast. It's much, much harder to master a programming language or web framework. Compared to something like Rails, iOS development, or React + Redux + Redux Saga, Git is just a couple of commands and basic concepts. Everything is listed here, and I don't think that's an unreasonable number of commands to know: https://git-scm.com/docs https://git-scm.com/docs
      - asmdev 9y ago
        The number of commands you show may not be unreasonable. But after spending many years in the industry, I think it is far easier for me to learn C++ with all its different types of pointers than it is to learn what Git is trying to tell me when I have screwed up something. Either Git has a complex user interface like I claim or I am beginning to grow old.
    - mi100hael 9y ago
      > To be fair to the people whose merges failed, I believe this is a shortcoming of git (the tool) and not the people using it. I disagree. Like everyone, I've experienced a failed merge that turns into a diff nightmare. However, when it has happened I've figured out how to solve it myself instead of wasting someone else's time with it, and it hasn't happened in years now leading me to believe it is directly correlated with git skill-level.

candiodari 9y ago

You realize that github dates can easily be falsified, right ? Besides, you are only using this as a negative ? So you'll actually hire people who don't put in extra effort over people who put slightly substandard free time code online ? That seems like a losing strategy. I've always found that willingness to put in effort vastly outperforms ability. Not to an infinite extent, but quite a bit.

trevor-e 9y ago
>You realize that github dates can easily be falsified, right ? Yea, but why would someone bother in this case? >Besides, you are only using this as a negative ? So you'll actually hire people who don't put in extra effort over people who put slightly substandard free time code online ? That seems like a losing strategy. That's not what I said at all. It's potentially a positive or a negative, just like anything else on a resume. I've seen plenty of Github profiles that have files with 2000 lines of spaghetti code and no structure or testability. Just like I've seen profiles with neat projects and excellent code. >I've always found that willingness to put in effort vastly outperforms ability. Not to an infinite extent, but quite a bit. I agree with this in general too.
mi100hael 9y ago
> You realize that github dates can easily be falsified, right ? If someone knows that much git, I'd hire them regardless. I'm so sick of untangling other peoples failed merges or trying to explain what the "not a fast-forward" issue means when their push fails.
- asmdev 9y ago
  To be fair to the people whose merges failed, I believe this is a shortcoming of git (the tool) and not the people using it. It is fair to expect a developer to invest sometime in learning their tools well but git is a different beast. I know it solves a very complex problem but the fact that it exposes a complex interface to the user to do so seems like a shortcoming of the tool to me. Heck, we even have a comic for it that shows how sometimes just saving my work, deleting my clone, re-cloning the repo and applying the changes in my work is easier than understanding the Git error messages: https://xkcd.com/1597/ https://xkcd.com/1597/. The tooltip in the comic is also sound advice: If that doesn't fix it, git.txt contains the phone number of a friend of mine who understands git. Just wait through a few minutes of 'It's really pretty simple, just think of branches as...' and eventually you'll learn the commands that will fix everything.
  - nathan_f77 9y ago
    Haha nooooo, it's really not that difficult! I really don't think git is a different beast. It's much, much harder to master a programming language or web framework. Compared to something like Rails, iOS development, or React + Redux + Redux Saga, Git is just a couple of commands and basic concepts. Everything is listed here, and I don't think that's an unreasonable number of commands to know: https://git-scm.com/docs https://git-scm.com/docs
    - asmdev 9y ago
      The number of commands you show may not be unreasonable. But after spending many years in the industry, I think it is far easier for me to learn C++ with all its different types of pointers than it is to learn what Git is trying to tell me when I have screwed up something. Either Git has a complex user interface like I claim or I am beginning to grow old.
  - mi100hael 9y ago
    > To be fair to the people whose merges failed, I believe this is a shortcoming of git (the tool) and not the people using it. I disagree. Like everyone, I've experienced a failed merge that turns into a diff nightmare. However, when it has happened I've figured out how to solve it myself instead of wasting someone else's time with it, and it hasn't happened in years now leading me to believe it is directly correlated with git skill-level.