4 ms·
Too true. These days front-end developers are expected to know frameworks and a plethora of lanauges which to me signals a company is trying to get not only a f
by DigitalSea 14y ago
Too true. These days front-end developers are expected to know frameworks and a plethora of lanauges which to me signals a company is trying to get not only a front-end developer but also is trying to get someone proficient in Rails or whatever language without paying more. "Oh, knowing Rails is a plus for this position" translates to, "We are going to pay you a $60k a year salary for a front-end position and get you to do the tasks of a Rails developer as well of which we pay $90k a year to" the line has been blurred you're either mostly front-end with a little knowledge of back-end and web apps like Wordpress and whatnot or you're backend with a little knowledge of front-end.
The wanky interview questions always make me laugh. Developers at their core are hackers, they know bits and pieces but not everything. A great developer doesn't know everything but knows what to type into Google when they need a solution to a problem. Collectively all of these tidbits create a cross-network of information developers share with one another. The questions that assume you are some all seeing, all knowing developer are a farce and you probably don't want to work at a place like that anyway.
The type of questions I would love to see being asked in front-end developer positions would be:
* What's the difference between display: inline-block and float: left?
* What is the default browser behaviour in a modern web browser when applying a padding left or right to an element with 100% with?
* How would you add a class to an element with the ID of, "content" via jQuery?
* Name two CSS browser vendor prefixes
* What is the difference between responsive design and adaptive design (bonus points for describing how and why one is easier and or harder than the other)?
* Which of these is not a valid CSS unit of measurement? px, pm, em, rem, %
* What is the difference between position: absolute and position: fixed?
These are questions good developers should know the answer too without Googling, they're not solutions they're somewhat basic things a front-end developer should know off of the top of his head.
Not:
* What are some of your favourite tech blogs to read?
* Can you please write a for loop that increments a counter?
* What web browser do you use?
* Can you recall a particular time when you found yourself solving a complex problem?
It's a tough economy and companies are always trying to get something extra for nothing. I've always had an issue with companies hiring so-called, designer/developers when we all know a true designer or developer doesn't fragment their time learning two crafts. You either become a great developer or a great designer not a mediocre hybrid who lacks full-understanding of each craft because you're too busy going back and forth with crafts.
- HaloZero 14y agoThat valid CSS unit measurement sounds like inane trivia to me. I've never had to use anything other than em, px, and % before and I've never even seen it in any open source projects.
- nickporter 14y agoThey are very useful when you want to build modular web components, and for just overall maintainability of your stylesheets. I wouldn't reject someone because they don't know what rem is though! I'd think of the question as a bonus I guess.
- DigitalSea 14y agoDefinitely. You'd be silly to asses the skills of a developer based on such a question. My point was more-so that companies should ask questions developers would know instead of asking questions most developers would probably Google the answers to.
- randomdata 14y ago> I've always had an issue with companies hiring so-called, designer/developers when we all know a true designer or developer doesn't fragment their time learning two crafts. I find it unfortunate that companies don't hire designer/developers more often. I've worked professionally in design and development roles, but it seems most companies want to keep them distinct, so I get typecast into one or the other. I want to be able to exercise all of my skills, especially when they are so closely linked in modern software. You are right that time is definitely not on your side to try and do it, but I've been designing since elementary school and programming since high school, and had jobs doing both before graduating high school. I had an easy decade head start compared to anyone who might try the same in college. If you believe 10,000 hours to proficiency, that makes a huge difference. Truth be told, I'm not sure how to accurately quantify my own abilities. Perhaps I really am mediocre at best, as you suggest. People seem to love the work I do though, whether it be design or development, so that is reason enough to continue with them both. Hopefully one day we can find tolerance of those who have an interest in both, and stop assuming all programmers cannot design.