Re: not enough real programmers? (was Re: Byte Magazine: 18 Vintage issues, 1985-1986)

[gillies@cs.ubc.ca (Donald Gillies)]

prs@gol.com (Peter Stephenson) writes:

>On Thu, 5 Aug 1999 19:12:46 -0400, "Ian St. John"
><istjohn@spamcop.net> wrote:

>>
>>Downsizing, and outsourcing are other factors, creating a demand for
>>documentation as proof of specific skill. More effort is spent on
>>'personnel searches', and less 'personal evaluation' is made. When the
>>person turns out to have the experience, but not the skill, it just
>>forces higher 'minimal qualifications'.
>>
>All true.  It can be difficult recruiting good programmers, though.  I
>mean, how the hell do you find out whether they can code in an
>interview?

Not hard.
==========

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." 

==========

The most important thing is to think of the questions yourself.  It
won't help to use "stock" questions, as there are many mediocre
programmers running around memorizing "stock" questions and answers.
Also, you don't always have to get the right answer to get hired, but
you have to show good thinking processes and make good progress on
such trivial problems if you want to get hired...