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The software industry is odd. Things change so fast, and new things comes out so often, but at the same time bad ideas masquerading as universally applicable be

The software industry is odd. Things change so fast, and new things comes out so often, but at the same time bad ideas masquerading as universally applicable best practices get adopted and linger forever. Google and Microsoft favoring this style of interview has given it incredible weight. I fully expect some interviewers will be giving this kind of interview in 10-20 years, still thinking they are doing the right/safe thing.

T-zex 13y ago
I think the problem with software industry is inertia. Someone well respected says everything is an object (or use dynamic typing everywhere, or functional programming, or node.js) and majority will blindly follow without ever thinking about more suitable alternatives.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- chollida1 13y ago
  > I think the problem with software industry is inertia. What you say here and what you say below actually disagree with each other. Inertia would be developers never changing their tooling and never following the next shiny technology. If anything, I think alot of programmers could do with a bit more inertia:) > Someone well respected says everything is an object (or use dynamic typing everywhere, or functional programming, or node.js) and majority will blindly follow without ever thinking about more suitable alternatives. I completely agree with this statement. Our industry is always quick to follow the leader:)
  - RogerL 13y ago
    If you two think so, I'd be a fool to think differently! I think people don't know how to think and evaluate. I tend to break it into Goals/strategies/tactics, though there are other useful breakdowns. I.e. start by asking yourself "what is my goal" - and it is not to ask graph algorithm questions, to use Django, or whatever. Once you have your goals, you can with hard work come up with strategies. From there flow tactics. Then, this gets communicated and everyone latches onto the strategies and tactics, never asking if the goals have changed, or are inappropriate for your use. Google wants to hire a bunch of young people that know graph theory and are willing to do anything to work for you (they have graph theory problems after all). Asking grad level CS questions is a way to get those people. So every start up follows suit even though they need something completely different, and Google persists even when they need something different. OO solves some things well, and is an appropriate strategy for some situations. It does not follow that you should use OO for everything. But, non-thinkers learn 'OO good', or 'CS questions good', and just run with it, never thinking about why those things are good, and in what context. Agile is everywhere these days. My company has adopted it wholesale, even though everything we do is extremely schedule oriented (due dates that are unchangable), and involves heavy coordination between many moving parts. But want to use a Gannt chart or a frigging calendar organizer? Get mocked, censored, and shot down for not being a team player. Agile, Jira, and all that has become the goal, and you are not allowed to think about whether it makes sense or not in a given situation. Decisions are judged on whether they are "agile", not on whether they are the best way to accomplish something. So we fumble about with a 'priority' list that makes no sense (everything must be done, there is no priority) and that completely obscures the very real relationships (scheduling and otherwise) between all the items. Utter, complete madness.
    - chollida1 13y ago
      Umm, are you sure you replied to the right comment an story. I've read what you posted twice now and I can't see how it has any bearing on what I wrote;)
_pmf_ 13y ago
> new things comes out so often New names for old things come out often. New things are pretty rare.
- softbuilder 13y ago
  New concepts yeah, you're right. But we are endlessly barraged with new tools, frameworks, libraries, etc., all of which have their own details to learn which is the "new" I had in mind.
pchap10k 13y ago
Very true. Being the best in an industry can give you the illusion you're the best at everything. Even in areas where you have no basis for being the best. Once Microsoft, now Google, by virtue of their high salaries, prestige and market leadership are virtually self selecting in the candidates they attract. Of course there are plenty of poor candidates, but both companies essentially hire based on brand, either that of the candidate's past employers or alma mater. I'm glad this useless technique is in the recycle bin of history. Now if only they started making people write code in interviews then we'd be getting somewhere (maybe they are? are they?)

T-zex 13y ago

I think the problem with software industry is inertia. Someone well respected says everything is an object (or use dynamic typing everywhere, or functional programming, or node.js) and majority will blindly follow without ever thinking about more suitable alternatives.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
chollida1 13y ago
> I think the problem with software industry is inertia. What you say here and what you say below actually disagree with each other. Inertia would be developers never changing their tooling and never following the next shiny technology. If anything, I think alot of programmers could do with a bit more inertia:) > Someone well respected says everything is an object (or use dynamic typing everywhere, or functional programming, or node.js) and majority will blindly follow without ever thinking about more suitable alternatives. I completely agree with this statement. Our industry is always quick to follow the leader:)
- RogerL 13y ago
  If you two think so, I'd be a fool to think differently! I think people don't know how to think and evaluate. I tend to break it into Goals/strategies/tactics, though there are other useful breakdowns. I.e. start by asking yourself "what is my goal" - and it is not to ask graph algorithm questions, to use Django, or whatever. Once you have your goals, you can with hard work come up with strategies. From there flow tactics. Then, this gets communicated and everyone latches onto the strategies and tactics, never asking if the goals have changed, or are inappropriate for your use. Google wants to hire a bunch of young people that know graph theory and are willing to do anything to work for you (they have graph theory problems after all). Asking grad level CS questions is a way to get those people. So every start up follows suit even though they need something completely different, and Google persists even when they need something different. OO solves some things well, and is an appropriate strategy for some situations. It does not follow that you should use OO for everything. But, non-thinkers learn 'OO good', or 'CS questions good', and just run with it, never thinking about why those things are good, and in what context. Agile is everywhere these days. My company has adopted it wholesale, even though everything we do is extremely schedule oriented (due dates that are unchangable), and involves heavy coordination between many moving parts. But want to use a Gannt chart or a frigging calendar organizer? Get mocked, censored, and shot down for not being a team player. Agile, Jira, and all that has become the goal, and you are not allowed to think about whether it makes sense or not in a given situation. Decisions are judged on whether they are "agile", not on whether they are the best way to accomplish something. So we fumble about with a 'priority' list that makes no sense (everything must be done, there is no priority) and that completely obscures the very real relationships (scheduling and otherwise) between all the items. Utter, complete madness.
  - chollida1 13y ago
    Umm, are you sure you replied to the right comment an story. I've read what you posted twice now and I can't see how it has any bearing on what I wrote;)

_pmf_ 13y ago

> new things comes out so often New names for old things come out often. New things are pretty rare.

softbuilder 13y ago
New concepts yeah, you're right. But we are endlessly barraged with new tools, frameworks, libraries, etc., all of which have their own details to learn which is the "new" I had in mind.

pchap10k 13y ago

Very true. Being the best in an industry can give you the illusion you're the best at everything. Even in areas where you have no basis for being the best. Once Microsoft, now Google, by virtue of their high salaries, prestige and market leadership are virtually self selecting in the candidates they attract. Of course there are plenty of poor candidates, but both companies essentially hire based on brand, either that of the candidate's past employers or alma mater. I'm glad this useless technique is in the recycle bin of history. Now if only they started making people write code in interviews then we'd be getting somewhere (maybe they are? are they?)