3 ms·
This specific case, and the norm of interviewing without access to references is not that interesting. But it is kinda like a specialized version of a fun part
by abeppu 6y ago
This specific case, and the norm of interviewing without access to references is not that interesting.
But it is kinda like a specialized version of a fun party question, "With what you know now, if you were sent back in time, how far could you go and usefully employ your knowledge of the future?" (E.g. I know chemical fertilizer is a big deal, but I definitely do not know how to make it. I studied heat engines in a physics class, but could not spark the industrial revolution a century earlier.)
Maybe the midway point between these is something like, "if you were sent back to an earlier era in computing, how far back could you go while usefully applying your current knowledge?" E.g. I work with the jvm constantly and I know that it was a big deal for a popular language to have an actually described memory model, but I couldn't build it myself in the 80s. Maybe I could build MapReduce or Spark in the 90s?
It's _hard_ working without the informational resources you're used to, but there are so many more fun ways to explore that gradient than web apps.
- Olreich 6y agoThe going back in time question is actually really good. What are the fundamental concepts you need to kickstart stuff? Those fundamental insights are still going to be relevant today, which is why they sparked revolutions and major changes to the landscape.
- abeppu 6y agoA close parallel, which I refuse to play until the world becomes a less scary place is about rebuilding after an apocalypse. One "out" that can make the exercise more inclusive depending on the group is germ theory. Any modern person could save a bunch of lives in almost any period if they can convince people to wash their hands, boil suspect water, separate wells and sewage by a wide margin, etc. And yes, definitely still relevant today.
- toast0 6y ago> Any modern person could save a bunch of lives in almost any period if they can convince people to wash their hands, boil suspect water, separate wells and sewage by a wide margin, etc. And yes, definitely still relevant today. The hard part here is probably convincing people. Something to prepare for before you go back in time or post-apocolyptic.