4 ms·
The only thing I'd caution (particularly about #1) is that being able to parrot facts — even ones you know cold — on-demand in a high-intensity interview setti
by lazerwalker 8y ago
The only thing I'd caution (particularly about #1) is that being able to parrot facts — even ones you know cold — on-demand in a high-intensity interview setting can be very different from using those same facts day-to-day. If someone can't describe the difference between abstract classes and interfaces, how confident are you it's because they don't understand it and not just because they're horrible at being put on the spot in an interview-style environment?
- asark 8y agoHell, I can barely "hello world" in languages I've been actively and productively writing for months or even years, without context (i.e. existing code) to draw on and/or tool assistance. I've got a better than 50% offer rate on interviews in an over 15 year long career but in one of the ones I flubbed I blanked on the syntax for invoking methods on an object in the language I knew best, at the time, and wrote some other (more common) invocation syntax instead, which can't have helped. Ask me JS scoping trivia and I guarantee I'll screw it up, despite having written JS and TS as my main language(s) for 3ish years now. Look, I stick to a subset of that language precisely so that I can ignore that shit. We can just skip the interview and go straight to the rejection if you're gonna do that. Doubly so if you don't tell me you're gonna do that so I can drill on it before hand. Coworker and manager feedback, and my compensation over the years, say I'm pretty damn good at adding value despite this. I've been considered the "smart one" and the go-to guy for hard or weird problems. But I will struggle to produce something that will even come close to compiling on your whiteboard, in a language I wrote 300 useful lines of yesterday, unless I spend a couple days basically flash-card drilling for your test. Go figure.
- nostrebored 8y agoNot being able to describe the difference between abstract classes and interfaces is a huge red flag for anyone working in OO Software Development. You can't be serious?
- random314 8y agoOnly dipshits working on shitty OO projects care about the difference between an abstract class and an interface. Let me guess - you also think algorithmic complexity analysis is overrated.
- nostrebored 8y agoThey're functionally different tools and knowing when to use each is important. I actually studied theoretical CS so of course I think complexity analysis is important. Your completely tangential tirade is noted though (Y)