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This story is a bit embarrassing to me, but I'll tell it anyway, I went for an interview a while ago, where I got asked a basic Javascript question ... problem

This story is a bit embarrassing to me, but I'll tell it anyway, I went for an interview a while ago, where I got asked a basic Javascript question ... problem is, I haven't actually written actual javascript in almost 3-4 years (not simple, but not really that hard either) ... I've been writing jQuery, which is supposed to be javascript, but I digress ... I know how Javascript works, scoping, hoisting blah blah blah, but I haven't written a for loop, or used an actual getByTagName or whatever in a long long time ... I told the interviewer this, and they seemed cool with that, they asked me to write in pseudo code and I did that, then they asked me to convert it to javascript ... hunh? Well, I started going through line by line and started doing just that, asking them to refresh my memory about the syntax of stuff, even how to write a for loop (yup, its amazing what spending years using jQuery.each or $.each will do to you :P). Anyway, we concluded and though I was annoyed at how out of practice I was, I thought I did okay. Well the recruiter who set it up, called me back (very nicely I might add) and gave me the feedback on the interview. The interviewer, (who had been very nice to me too btw), had eviscerated me, writing that I displayed a lack of Javascript fundamentals ... saying I didn't even know how to write a for loop. I don't blame them, because we clearly shouldn't have been talking in the first place, they were obviously looking for a hard core Javascript guy ... and not person who could just build complex front end UIs & interactions using backbone/ember/spine/jquery/whatever, which is what I was more interested in. But it also got me thinking about how some engineers fixate on syntax, and use it in judging other programmers, and I realized that in some circumstances it is pretty appropriate. For example, if you're looking for a specialized dev, then that kind of stuff probably does matter; in that, it can help you spot a star very quickly ... but I also think that over reliance on it could let you miss out on people who could easily specialize to the level you want, but might not have that immediate level of familiarity with the language. But when you have to go through 100's of candidates, is that something you're willing to take the time to look out for? Should you? Sorry for the rambling, just been thinking about it for a long time now.

barrkel 15y ago
You have your specialization / generalization axis the wrong way around, I think. Knowing what a for-loop looks like in a C-derived language is correlated with broad experience; once you know it in C, you know it in Java, JavaScript, C++, C#, etc. But someone who knows primarily jQuery / backbone / ember / spine etc. is much more of a specialist, not a generalist. They have deep specific knowledge of a narrow toolset, rather than broad general knowledge of a wide toolset. That is, knowledge of language over libraries indicates generality (if you know the language and its idioms well, you should pick up most libraries fairly easily); knowledge of libraries over language indicates specialisms, because you end up a little out of your depth when not wading through the library's DSLs.
- DavidWoof 15y ago
  I assumed he meant a for(obj in list), not for(int x = 0; i < foo.... It's pretty natural to forget the first syntax if you haven't used it in a while because there's no real standard for it across languages.
  - trustfundbaby 15y ago
    Actually its the latter ... I do a lot of python, ruby and jquery (almost exclusively), so I really can't even remember the last time I had to do a for loop. I've done, C, C++, C# & Java so the syntax wasn't unfamiliar to me at all, and I probably could have recalled it if I had taken 2 minutes to do it, I just didn't think it would be a big deal to ask so I could get on with the code.

barrkel 15y ago

You have your specialization / generalization axis the wrong way around, I think. Knowing what a for-loop looks like in a C-derived language is correlated with broad experience; once you know it in C, you know it in Java, JavaScript, C++, C#, etc. But someone who knows primarily jQuery / backbone / ember / spine etc. is much more of a specialist, not a generalist. They have deep specific knowledge of a narrow toolset, rather than broad general knowledge of a wide toolset. That is, knowledge of language over libraries indicates generality (if you know the language and its idioms well, you should pick up most libraries fairly easily); knowledge of libraries over language indicates specialisms, because you end up a little out of your depth when not wading through the library's DSLs.

DavidWoof 15y ago
I assumed he meant a for(obj in list), not for(int x = 0; i < foo.... It's pretty natural to forget the first syntax if you haven't used it in a while because there's no real standard for it across languages.
- trustfundbaby 15y ago
  Actually its the latter ... I do a lot of python, ruby and jquery (almost exclusively), so I really can't even remember the last time I had to do a for loop. I've done, C, C++, C# & Java so the syntax wasn't unfamiliar to me at all, and I probably could have recalled it if I had taken 2 minutes to do it, I just didn't think it would be a big deal to ask so I could get on with the code.