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>> The same people ... don't understand why someone is uncomfortable writing a program on a whiteboard or, even worse, over the phone Exactly. I loathe whiteb
by mattm 16y ago
>> The same people ... don't understand why someone is uncomfortable writing a program on a whiteboard or, even worse, over the phone
Exactly. I loathe whiteboard interview questions. In five years of programming, how many times have I ever written or looked at code on a whiteboard to solve a real, work problem?
Zero.
Yet some people think the best way to learn about a candidate is to put them in a situation far removed from a real, daily work situation and see how they perform.
- btilly 16y agoFull working code on a whiteboard, is very uncommon. However a lot of the time useful code snippets go on a whiteboard. Particularly in informal meetings. More than that, design diagrams go up there as well. There are some interview questions that I like which force people to put up the sort of pictures we actually draw in meetings - for instance come up with the tables backing a particular application. At the place where we asked that, you'd find yourself doing that after you got hired as well. If you don't use whiteboards in these ways, then I'm going to suggest putting whiteboards near developers and consciously try it. You'll be amazed how well it works.