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I don't know about that. While being a good hacker probably correlates with being a good engineer, I think that the focus on "hacking" excludes a lot of very ca
by chunkbot 16y ago
I don't know about that. While being a good hacker probably correlates with being a good engineer, I think that the focus on "hacking" excludes a lot of very capable people. I know from personal hiring experience that a lot of qualified people are put off by the emphasis on being a hacker.
To expand on this, I don't think winning a multi-round programming competition (that is, successfully solving multiple algorithm-based problem statements under a time constraint with the highest accuracy and speed) is the best indicator of a good hire.
- nostrademons 16y agoI wish more programming competitions followed the format of the ICFP. 72 hours, teams of a half dozen or so, solving an open-ended problem, often an optimization problem where an exact solution is NP-hard. You're judged by how well you do, not by whether you get the correct answer (which often isn't computationally feasible anyway). That seems to most closely approximate real-world programming problems.
- pcarmichael 16y agoI completely agree the ICFP contest matches real-world problems better. I can't recommend it enough. The longer timeframe requires discipline and good planning, while also providing a bit of a buffer for early (minor) mistakes. Having a strong and well organized team is huge. You'll learn a lot about your teammates in the process, both behaviorally and technically. However, I've had to go solo the last two years and still enjoyed it immensely - it just changes how you prioritize some of the development.