Hello all, I'm new to this list but not to PHP. I've been architecting and developing Web applications and networked software products for about 17 years and have had the good fortune to work for some very interesting clients such as Nike, BMG Direct, the Chicago Tribune, Lycos, &c.
I've also conducted programming skill assessments which resulted in stronger candidate matches for fast paced projects. However, I've also interviewed candidates whom I thought were weak technically and poor choices, but with whom the hiring manager had long-term relationships. Guess what? Those candidates worked hard, got up to speed, and ended up being valuable long term investments! I agree with Urb in that I'd much rather see a third variable for the value-swapping question than the "xor" which obfuscates the code. Only in extreme resource duress (embedded systems, PDAs, watch PCs :) would I resort to obfuscation for optimization, and when I do I always feel a slight pang of guilt. Thanks for this resource, and I hope to meet you all when I re-move to NYC (grew up there, left a decade ago) in July/August! Regards, Patricia Ju
> Message: 6 > Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2007 23:25:58 -0400 > From: Urb LeJeune <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [nyphp-talk] Questions to ask at a job interview? > To: NYPHP Talk <talk@lists.nyphp.org> > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed > > I've been following this thread with interest. To a certain point I think > you're going about this in the wrong way. Programming is about > problem solving, it's about syntax, that's the easy part. I good > problem solver can use a book to lean the syntax to code a solved > problem. Someone who aces a programming test because they > have memorized a manual is non necessarily a good problem > solver. > > Try this on a candidate. > > Write an algorithm (not language specific code) to do the following: > > Players is a variable holding the number of players in a single > elimination tournament. If you loose a match, you're out. The > winner is determined when there is no one left to play. > > Output the value of Matches which is a variable containing the > number of matches required in the tournament. > > On problem that is non-trivial will have multiple solutions, we > want the most efficient. > > Resist the temptation to express the algorithm in PHP or any > other programming language. > > The algorithm is like: > > 1. Input Players as the number of players in a single elimination tournament. > ... > ... > X. Output Matches which is the number of matches required in a single > elimination tournament containing N (Players) players > > Hire any candidates who come up with an elegant solution. Then teach > them any syntactic structures they don't know. > > BTW, I personally think swapping the contents of two variables without a > temporary variables proves nothing. It's a trick we learned if we studied > assembly language. Tricks do not a good programmer make. When is > the last time you used an XOR is a real program? > > Urb > > Dr. Urban A. LeJeune, President > E-Government.com > 800-204-9545 > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > talk mailing list > talk@lists.nyphp.org > http://lists.nyphp.org/mailman/listinfo/talk > > End of talk Digest, Vol 9, Issue 10 > *********************************** > -- Taiwan Cell: +886.917.268.640 US/Int'l Cell: +1.503.616.3100 失敗是成功之母 Failure is the mother of success.
-- Taiwan Cell: +886.917.268.640 US/Int'l Cell: +1.503.616.3100 失敗是成功之母 Failure is the mother of success. _______________________________________________ New York PHP Community Talk Mailing List http://lists.nyphp.org/mailman/listinfo/talk NYPHPCon 2006 Presentations Online http://www.nyphpcon.com Show Your Participation in New York PHP http://www.nyphp.org/show_participation.php
