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Ask Slashdot: What Portion of Developers Are Bad At What They Do?

Posted by Soulskill on from the very-small-shell-scripts dept.

ramoneThePoolGuy writes: We are looking to fill a senior developer/architect position in our firm. I am disappointed with the applicants thus far, and quite frankly it has me worried about the quality of developers/engineers available to us. For instance, today I asked an engineer with 20+ years of experience to describe to me the basic process of public/private key encryption. This engineer had no clue. I asked another applicant a similar question: "Suppose you wanted to send me a file with very sensitive information, how would you encrypt it in such a way that I would decrypt it?" The person started off by asking me if it was an excel file, a PDF, etc. In general, I'm finding that an overwhelming number of developers I've interviewed have poor understanding of key concepts, especially when it comes to securing data. Are other firms experiencing this same dilemma in finding qualified applicants? (Quite frankly it scares me that some of these developers are building sites that need to be secure)"

8 of 809 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yes... by Oligonicella · · Score: 3, Funny

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  2. Physical encryption. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Suppose you wanted to send me a file with very sensitive information, how would you encrypt it in such a way that I would decrypt it?"

    I'd use a cross-cut shredder, then send it to you in a paper bag along with some Scotch tape. (You didn't specify how easy it needs to be to decrypt, especially if I include some random shredded pages in the mix.)

    Works for most types of files: Excel, PDF, etc...

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:Physical encryption. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ah...so you padded the files and salted the encryption algorithm. Very good!

      Now, all you need is a gaggle of quantum monkeys to decrypt it.

      When took LISP way back in college, the instructor asked a student what he wanted out of the class. The kid said, "an A". The instructor said, "no problem" and wrote "A" on the blackboard. Then he asked the kid his name and wrote it on the blackboard - "Steve's A". The instructor said, "I imagine you'll want to take that home with you," erased the writing and smacked the eraser down on the kid's notebook. The instructor then remarked, "notice how your grade has been encrypted and stored as a nice little bit pattern for you."

      Ah, college...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  3. About half are below average.... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Funny

    And about half are above average.

    1. Re:About half are below average.... by Tower · · Score: 2, Funny

      This, of course, depends significantly on whether by "average" you mean the mode, median, or mean, which in a non-bellcurve distribution such as a programmers or software engineers can be very different.

      --
      "It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
  4. Re:But where/when does one explicitly learn securi by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 5, Funny

    You learn it on your own time at your own expense. Duh. You aren't one of those "freeloaders" that expect their employer to invest any of their time or money in the growth and career development of their employees do you?

  5. Re:It's a vast field.... by lgw · · Score: 5, Funny

    You aren't evaluating candidates. You are making a common interviewing mistake and fishing for specific answers. You (wrongly) assume that a matching answer is a good answer.

    To put it another way, "what do I have in my pocket?" is not a legitimate riddle!

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  6. Re:It's a vast field.... by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Funny

    Q: Describe to me the basic process of public/private key encryption.
    A: (a long string of incomprehensible sounds, something like you might hear coming out of a pentacostal church when they "speak in tongues")
    Q: Are you okay?
    A: Sure, I answered your question. My answer is encrypted. The encryption is unbreakable.
    (try proving otherwise. :-) )

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.