Why HackerRank and other coding tests are ageist

Do you have to reach out for google or a book to do a simple if/else statement? What about a for loop? Now what about the difference between a map and a set? Likely not, it's the basics used in any app.

Talking about premature optimization here implies there's some work to be done, things to think through, stuff that's not obvious. And that's totally true at a certain complexity level.

But what is "complex" and what is "obvious" isn't objective. It's purely a factor of what the "average software developer" knows.

What I'm arguing is that while at one point the pendulum was swinging too far one way, it's now too far in the other, and it's affecting software quality industry wide.

I am a bit late to this discussion, as Sarah Butcher (the author of the article) just informed me about this thread. This is Marc Adler, the person that was talked about in this article. It's great to see the discussion around Hackerank-type coding tests and the hiring process. There are probably some clarifications that need to accompany the article.

First, when I was interviewed for the article, there was no mention of the word "ageism". As something in this thread surmised, it was probably inserted into the title for a bit of "shock value". The article was supposed to be about the correlation of Hackrank tests and the hiring of experienced people who have been coding successfully for a number of years on "real-world" problems. Many of you in this thread fall into that category.

Second, I have about 30 years of experience in the industry. I started out in the mid-1980s as a Windows developer at Goldman Sachs, writing equities trading systems, went on to form my own software company (which I had for ten years and concentrated on programming tools), and then continued as a developer/architect for more Wall Street companies. Among some of my roles were Chief Architect of Citigroup's equities division, and Chief Architect of MetLife (a global insurance company). I am currently CA at another big company that is not on Wall Street. All of this time, I have been coding. Recently, I developed an Uber clone in Scala/Akka/Play.

I am not completely against Hackerank-type tests for hiring junior devs or devs right out of college. But what I am against is the use of these coding tests to hire people who have 10, 20, or even 30 years of experience. When was the last time that you used dynamic programming algorithms in your job? When was the last time that you seriously thought about Big O? In my experience, a lot of apps use linked lists and hash tables. If you want a nice sorting algorithm, there is one that comes with one of Microsoft's C# assemblies. What is more critical is knowing how to find information and how to apply it in your day to day job. And that's the kind of developer I want to hire ... one who is resourceful and productive.

-marc