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If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

jasonbock.net

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Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#51

Post by bane »

ACow_Adonis wrote: post #18

Interviewer: since you have experience working with wood, show us how you would implement photosynthesis on this whiteboard... Or Interviewer: what's the most popular kind of wood right now? Exactly. We're putting together a team to make a sink using it. In the second phase we will use wood to build a toilet. Interested? Or Interviewer: A carpenter? We were looking more for a mahogany-scientist or a pine-wizard. Are…

Please draw the molecular diagram for Cellulose. What if the requirements were a 20% increase in cellular wall strength? Design a new polysaccharide that fulfills this requirement. Select a plant, how would you modify the genome of that plant to begin producing this new cell wall.

Given this sequence of basepairs, compute the resulting protein that may be expressed from this sequence.

Suppose Xylem was no longer an accepted technical solution, how would you move water from the roots to the leaves of a tree using only things the tree could grow, and the sun? Compute the maximize tree size using your new method and design a plan for implementation in 3 generations of selective breeding.

Show on the whiteboard the for producing ammonia-based fertilizers at industrial scales, use the Odda process instead of the Haber one. How can you prevent ammonium nitrate from entering a tetragonal crystaline state at 84.2C?

Design a table saw that uses a linear electric motor instead of a rotary motor, assume a 7.3V 5A input source. If we wanted the saw blade to turn at 7300rpm, what gearing ratio would you use in the 3rd translational gear? Compute the lorentz forces on the components and show the resulting torque in an assumed ideal zero gravity environment. Diagram out all vectors on the whiteboard.

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#53

Post by jrs235 »

Chris2048 wrote: post #25
rootlocus wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Software is software. The paradigms are the same. The languages have the same roots. What is culture for a programming language anyways? Sure, the tools and frameworks are different, and every language has it's own quirks and uniqueness but they're not as different as you make it sound. If a developer is skilled, these are small differences.

> The paradigms are the same So Clojure, Java, Javascript, Haskell and Ruby are all basically the same? I think damage can be done hammering different languages into the same methodologies.. > If a developer is skilled You suggest skill is generic. If a programmer is smart they can learn new paradigms. Projecting the paradigms they are used to onto new domains can produce problems, least of all the standardisation.

>I think damage can be done hammering different languages into the same methodologies..

Using the incorrect nail for the job can lead to disaster or complications down the road. Think of using a nail that will rust over time being used on an exterior deck. Or a nail that is too long or thick for the pieces of lumber it is supposed to be securely (potentially splitting the boards).

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#54

Post by martijn_himself »

emerongi wrote: post #49
martijn_himself wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree reality is probably more subtle that this, but I do feel that there is too much emphasis on public repositories in application processes. It's probably more common for recent graduates to have public repositories than for the majority of senior devs. Then again I'm sure there are other pressures graduates have to deal with that senior devs don't.

Too much emphasis? Most recent graduates don't even have a GitHub profile. They get jobs because they graduated. It's totally fine. If you did not graduate, you better have some projects to show though.

That's interesting. For companies I have approached recently it was the first question they asked. Maybe it depends on the kind of company (for me it was mainly start-ups).

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#55

Post by jrs235 »

reificator wrote: post #43
Chris2048 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The paradigms are the same So Clojure, Java, Javascript, Haskell and Ruby are all basically the same? I think damage can be done hammering different languages into the same methodologies.. > If a developer is skilled You suggest skill is generic. If a programmer is smart they can learn new paradigms. Projecting the paradigms they are used to onto new domains can produce problems, least of all the standardisation.

Of course Java and Javascript are the same, they've got the same name. It's just like grapes and grapefruit. Completely indistinguishable from one another.

A nail is a nail is a nail! You can use any nail for any application!

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#56

Post by DanielBMarkham »

CM30 wrote: post #4

You forgot the job description beforehand that expects the carpenter to also have experience as a metalworker, welder, plumber, electrician and bricklayer. Oh, we could hire all those roles separately, but hey we want a rockstar ninja capable of everything who's willing to work for less than market rate.

I'd flip that around. The key question is "Have you actually built a house? You didn't have to do all of the work, but have you built a house and understand how all the pieces fit together so you could help us build us a house of our own? Could you help us hire a plumber, know enough about his work to keep an eye on him and help him out while we're out playing golf?"

"Heck no. I've spent the last ten years becoming an expert in cabinet doors. I don't worry about all that other stuff."

This attitude of breaking things into tiny silos is how you get small projects with 30 people in them that still can't deliver a working product.

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#57

Post by afonsotsukamoto »

rcarmo wrote: post #7

I grabbed this article and replaced: - "carpenter" with "data scientist" - "brown" with "machine learning" - "walnut" with "AI" and - "rock" with "Kubernetes" It was perfectly up to date regarding my neck of the woods :) (edit: formatting)

Definitely up to date :)

(open console on article and paste this hacky code for an automated version)

  [ ["carpenter", "Data Scientist"],
    ["brown", "Machine Learning"],
    ["walnut", "AI"], 
    ["rock", "Kubernetes"] ].map(function(r)
  {
      var rg = new RegExp(r[0], 'ig');
      document.body.innerHTML = document.body.innerHTML.replace(rg, r[1]);
  });

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#58

Post by [deleted] »

martijn_himself wrote: post #54
emerongi wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Too much emphasis? Most recent graduates don't even have a GitHub profile. They get jobs because they graduated. It's totally fine. If you did not graduate, you better have some projects to show though.

That's interesting. For companies I have approached recently it was the first question they asked. Maybe it depends on the kind of company (for me it was mainly start-ups).

[deleted]

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#59

Post by megous »

CM30 wrote: post #4

You forgot the job description beforehand that expects the carpenter to also have experience as a metalworker, welder, plumber, electrician and bricklayer. Oh, we could hire all those roles separately, but hey we want a rockstar ninja capable of everything who's willing to work for less than market rate.

DevOps full-stack carpenter.

Re: If Carpenters Were Hired Like Programmers (2004)

#60

Post by megous »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #56
CM30 wrote: post #4

You forgot the job description beforehand that expects the carpenter to also have experience as a metalworker, welder, plumber, electrician and bricklayer. Oh, we could hire all those roles separately, but hey we want a rockstar ninja capable of everything who's willing to work for less than market rate.

I'd flip that around. The key question is "Have you actually built a house? You didn't have to do all of the work, but have you built a house and understand how all the pieces fit together so you could help us build us a house of our own? Could you help us hire a plumber, know enough about his work to keep an eye on him and help him out while we're out playing golf?" "Heck no. I've spent the last ten years becoming a…

Depends on scale. If they're building a skyscraper, it's ridiculous to want it done from a single person.
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