3 ms·

I teach an intro to Python class for people with no programming experience whatsoever that definitely goes through for-loops within the first few hours. If som

I teach an intro to Python class for people with no programming experience whatsoever that definitely goes through for-loops within the first few hours. If someone has basic proficiency in any other programming language at all, then learning how to do a for-loop in Python is a trivial matter of minutes to maybe half an hour, in my experience.

throwaway080383 8y ago
Sure, I just meant that going from that level of knowledge to shipping a working program which integrates with a non-trivial third party library is a decent showing for a new grad hire.
- jscholes 8y ago
  > Sure, I just meant that going from that level of knowledge to shipping a working program which integrates with a non-trivial third party library is a decent showing for a new grad hire. Do you think this is a commonly-held view? Honest question, because I know I could pull this off and I didn't finish university (or study CS when I was there). If companies are looking for this level of talent during the application process, I could probably work for IBM without a CS degree but it's not likely they'd even look twice at my resumé.
  - throwaway080383 8y ago
    I'm not sure if it's a commonly held view, but I don't have a CS degree, and neither do some of the best people I work with, at a company most folks on this site would "rank" at least as high as IBM. That said, our interviews are the usual "write code on a whiteboard" style. Part of the difficulty of pullimg this off, in my opinion, is finding that third-party library in the first place, and getting everything working under a time crunch. I dunno, I may have a weird view on these things; I find doing coding competition problems on a whiteboard much easier than actual practical engineering. I'm sure you could get an interview at IBM if you get an internal reference.

3 ms·

I teach an intro to Python class for people with no programming experience whatsoever that definitely goes through for-loops within the first few hours. If som

by merlincorey 8y ago

throwaway080383 8y ago
Sure, I just meant that going from that level of knowledge to shipping a working program which integrates with a non-trivial third party library is a decent showing for a new grad hire.
- jscholes 8y ago
  > Sure, I just meant that going from that level of knowledge to shipping a working program which integrates with a non-trivial third party library is a decent showing for a new grad hire. Do you think this is a commonly-held view? Honest question, because I know I could pull this off and I didn't finish university (or study CS when I was there). If companies are looking for this level of talent during the application process, I could probably work for IBM without a CS degree but it's not likely they'd even look twice at my resumé.
  - throwaway080383 8y ago
    I'm not sure if it's a commonly held view, but I don't have a CS degree, and neither do some of the best people I work with, at a company most folks on this site would "rank" at least as high as IBM. That said, our interviews are the usual "write code on a whiteboard" style. Part of the difficulty of pullimg this off, in my opinion, is finding that third-party library in the first place, and getting everything working under a time crunch. I dunno, I may have a weird view on these things; I find doing coding competition problems on a whiteboard much easier than actual practical engineering. I'm sure you could get an interview at IBM if you get an internal reference.