And yet, how many of the programmers you conclude cannot program because of how they handled the test have in fact written successful software for years?
In effect you are saying that all the employers who hired this guy are not as smart as you are. Isn't the more likely answer that your test isn't as infallible as you think it is?
"Of particular interest is the Fizz Buzz test [imranontech.com] I throw at candidates. I don't care how long it takes them to get it right or if they have to ask questions."
I looked at the Fizz Buzz test and it just looks like any other toy problem used in an interview. The fact that it is claimed to determine if someone would be a good developer on a real world problem, doesn't mean it is. Where's the evidence?
"The people I see being squeezed out are the ones that are over 50 with no upward aspirations"
That should actually give them an advantage since they won't be moping around like the younger ones are when the company fails to satisfy those aspirations.
In many cases it's a team of individuals that determine who gets hired, not any one person. So while you may not consider age in your choices, it doesn't mean other people don't (and naturally they aren't going to admit it).
Everything I type on my keyboard is of great value, so of course spies will adopt sophisticated technologies to try to monitor me. They want to be wealthy and famous just as I have.. oh wait.
A few years ago IBM acquired Rational. Immediately afterword they discontinued the popular Visual Test product because it competed with more expensive products IBM owned. They won't sell you a license for it and they won't convert it into an open source project.
"... and NetBeans/Eclipse would unify IBM's front against Visual Studio"
What do you mean? I didn't know NetBeans and Eclipse were planing on embracing.NET. Certainly.NET developers aren't likely to switch to Java even if they liked NetBeans and Exclipse more than Visual Studio (which they don't).
Seems that there always has to be an Anti-MS spin no matter how brain-dead.
"Oh come off it. You must be an American, because in America excessive gentleness and tenderness in dealing with even the most outrageous and inexcusable problems seems to the present cultural norm."
Where is this gentle programming territory in the US? Remember, the Daily WTF was started in the USA - not exactly a font of tenderness.
If Linus et al don't like the way ext3 works, they shouldn't complain about the developer, they should change it. After all, they have the source code.
How long will corporate customers of Red Hat need the hand-holding provided by paying for Linux? Maybe 2015 will be the year that Linux is ready for the server (i.e. most customers won't need support).
I guess I phrased my last post badly. I just mean that browser makers shouldn't be forced to include a special feature for this purpose and web sites shouldn't be pressured into supporting it.
Are you suggesting that everyone capable of being a good CEO is employed as one already? We have all seen cases where the less qualified have been promoted due to slick self-promotion skills or company politics. Do you really think these factors are less prevalent when it comes to CEO appointments?
The fact is that there isn't any evidence of a relationship between executive salaries and executive management skills.
The reason that CEOs get paid more than they are worth is that executive compensation is really a big circle-jerk.
A CEO of one company is typically a board member of several others. Nobody in the game is motivated to keep salaries in check because they don't want to limit their own.
In addition, placing a current club member on your board is often required if you want to become a public company.
His argument sounds a bit like the old question "Why can't UI's be as simple as a toaster?" Of course, the answer is "they can be if you're just making toast".
The UI for Google search is simple because basic search is simple. If you need to do an advanced search, it's a bit more complicated.
Sure we've gone through 10 fonts in a letter, blinking text on web pages, gratuitous flash, etc, but complex applications will not be useful if their interface is oversimplified.
"Software will increasingly be embedded in everything we do - eventually, everything we are."
Sure, nobody every thought of that before RMS came along. It's funny that you mention embedded because Unix people were quite late to the embedded world.
Slashdot Mirror
That's probably why these self-fulfilling experiments are so popular - they help sustain the self-delusion that everybody is crappy except for you.
And yet, how many of the programmers you conclude cannot program because of how they handled the test have in fact written successful software for years?
In effect you are saying that all the employers who hired this guy are not as smart as you are. Isn't the more likely answer that your test isn't as infallible as you think it is?
More like the 70s or 80s. Even in the 60s we got film strips and movies. TVs were expensive and there was no such thing as video tape.
"Of particular interest is the Fizz Buzz test [imranontech.com] I throw at candidates. I don't care how long it takes them to get it right or if they have to ask questions."
I looked at the Fizz Buzz test and it just looks like any other toy problem used in an interview. The fact that it is claimed to determine if someone would be a good developer on a real world problem, doesn't mean it is. Where's the evidence?
Upward aspirations as in management, not technology.
Nobody said that most HR people know what they are doing but you still have to deal with them.
"The people I see being squeezed out are the ones that are over 50 with no upward aspirations"
That should actually give them an advantage since they won't be moping around like the younger ones are when the company fails to satisfy those aspirations.
In many cases it's a team of individuals that determine who gets hired, not any one person. So while you may not consider age in your choices, it doesn't mean other people don't (and naturally they aren't going to admit it).
Everything I type on my keyboard is of great value, so of course spies will adopt sophisticated technologies to try to monitor me. They want to be wealthy and famous just as I have .. oh wait.
"And I for one can just consider that Visual Studio sucks compared to Eclipse when it comes to how user-friendly the tool is."
I feel sorry for the hoards of Java developers that have been using Visual Studio all these years when they could have been using Eclipse.
A few years ago IBM acquired Rational. Immediately afterword they discontinued the popular Visual Test product because it competed with more expensive products IBM owned. They won't sell you a license for it and they won't convert it into an open source project.
"... and NetBeans/Eclipse would unify IBM's front against Visual Studio"
What do you mean? I didn't know NetBeans and Eclipse were planing on embracing .NET. Certainly .NET developers aren't likely to switch to Java even if they liked NetBeans and Exclipse more than Visual Studio (which they don't).
Seems that there always has to be an Anti-MS spin no matter how brain-dead.
"Oh come off it. You must be an American, because in America excessive gentleness and tenderness in dealing with even the most outrageous and inexcusable problems seems to the present cultural norm."
Where is this gentle programming territory in the US? Remember, the Daily WTF was started in the USA - not exactly a font of tenderness.
If Linus et al don't like the way ext3 works, they shouldn't complain about the developer, they should change it. After all, they have the source code.
Ah, that felt good!
How long will corporate customers of Red Hat need the hand-holding provided by paying for Linux? Maybe 2015 will be the year that Linux is ready for the server (i.e. most customers won't need support).
I guess I phrased my last post badly. I just mean that browser makers shouldn't be forced to include a special feature for this purpose and web sites shouldn't be pressured into supporting it.
Are you suggesting that everyone capable of being a good CEO is employed as one already? We have all seen cases where the less qualified have been promoted due to slick self-promotion skills or company politics. Do you really think these factors are less prevalent when it comes to CEO appointments?
The fact is that there isn't any evidence of a relationship between executive salaries and executive management skills.
The reason that CEOs get paid more than they are worth is that executive compensation is really a big circle-jerk.
A CEO of one company is typically a board member of several others. Nobody in the game is motivated to keep salaries in check because they don't want to limit their own.
In addition, placing a current club member on your board is often required if you want to become a public company.
You mean Steve Jobs salary and everybody else's.
I don't care if there's a browser add-on or how it's communicated as long as only those sites that wish to use it can.
That's why 99% of us use unique keyboard layouts - it's because there was no ANSI or ISO around to give it a number.
His argument sounds a bit like the old question "Why can't UI's be as simple as a toaster?" Of course, the answer is "they can be if you're just making toast".
The UI for Google search is simple because basic search is simple. If you need to do an advanced search, it's a bit more complicated.
Sure we've gone through 10 fonts in a letter, blinking text on web pages, gratuitous flash, etc, but complex applications will not be useful if their interface is oversimplified.
I keep seeing people write that RMS was proven right. What was proven right?
Is there actually anybody on Slashdot who hasn't read the GPL?
"Software will increasingly be embedded in everything we do - eventually, everything we are."
Sure, nobody every thought of that before RMS came along. It's funny that you mention embedded because Unix people were quite late to the embedded world.