Re: not enough real programmers?

[dlc@fc.hp.com (Dennis Clark)]

: > int x[10] = { ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ? };
: > 
: > 1.  "Write a fast C program to move all the zeroes to the end of
: > the array."
: > 
: > 2.  "Write a piece of code to clear the 3rd-lowest bit of a word"
: > 
: > 3.  "Write a function to print out a 32-bit number in decimal, but in
: > reverse."
: > 
: > 4.  "Write a program to perform a "perfect shuffle" on an array of 52
: > numbers." 

  This goes a long way towards understanding the poor state of affairs in
our CS world.  "Prove you're a programmer - hack out some code off the top
of your head".  How much code out there comes from this mindset?  We should
be asking programmers to plan a project by giving them a trivial project
example via a user specifications description and see where that takes
him/her.  It would be a more telling tale of what you really want.  Any
damn programmer can learn a language and write a sort routine.  Good 
programmers know how to design and plan.

  My answer to the above four questions would be first "go find some code
that has already been written by someone else to solve such a trivial 
problem." 

'nuff said,
DLC
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| Dennis Clark                   email dlc@verinet.com     |
| Be well, Do good work, stay in touch -- Garrison Keillor |
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