Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Becoming a compiler engineer

rona.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 160 posts

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#91

Post by wiseowise »

tiu wrote: post #64

The comments are wildly fragmented in this thread. I agree with @torginus, the article has less and less of anything useful to people that want to get into compilers. Anyways, the "Who .. hires compiler engineer?" section is fairly vague in my opinion, so: AMD, Nvidia, Intel, Apple, Google definitely hire for compiler positions. These hire fairly 'in-open' so probably the best bets all around. Aside from this, Jane S…

> Making a compiler is great and all but too many people exist with a lox interpreter-compiler or something taken from the two Go books

Damn, you don’t hold back, do you?

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#92

Post by jibal »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #41
torginus wrote: post #23

[flagged]

[flagged]

> There are two equally disappointing outcomes I can see here. One is that she realizes that she was just lucky, and she isn't an expert like this. Another is that she never realizes how much luck was involved and begins to think she is the shit because she made it.

From the article: "I am super-lucky in a lot of ways".

> I'm just not going to expect much good advice about to get hired from a fresh MIT grad who checks off a bunch of HR checkboxes.

What exactly is wrong with the advice she does give? And exactly what "HR checkboxes" does she check off? C'mon, don't be coy.

Despite not basing your comments on the content of the article, you seem to have a lot of knowledge about her skills. Or perhaps it's just a common bias against people referred to as "her".

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#93

Post by jibal »

ramchip wrote: post #81
wakawaka28 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

It's incredibly rude, and wrong, to assume that a woman was hired because she "checks off a bunch of HR checkboxes" rather than skill or hard work when you know nothing about her.

Not just a woman, but an Asian woman. Let's not even begin to think of her as an individual.

The comment is not merely rude, it's blatant bigotry.

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#94

Post by vidarh »

wiseowise wrote: post #91
tiu wrote: post #64

The comments are wildly fragmented in this thread. I agree with @torginus, the article has less and less of anything useful to people that want to get into compilers. Anyways, the "Who .. hires compiler engineer?" section is fairly vague in my opinion, so: AMD, Nvidia, Intel, Apple, Google definitely hire for compiler positions. These hire fairly 'in-open' so probably the best bets all around. Aside from this, Jane S…

> Making a compiler is great and all but too many people exist with a lox interpreter-compiler or something taken from the two Go books Damn, you don’t hold back, do you?

It's not that it's bad that people have written a compiler. It's that having written a simple one isn't a very useful indicator.

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#95

Post by vidarh »

aidenn0 wrote: post #74
chubot wrote: post #9

Very interesting and informative! I'm a bit shocked that it would take significant effort/creativity for an MIT grad with relevant course/project work to get a job in the niche I would have thought the recruiting pipeline is kinda smooth Although maybe it's a smaller niche than I think -- I imagine compiler engineers skew more senior. Maybe it's not a common first or second job I graduated at the bottom of bear marke…

I'm not familiar with the current job market (There is a lot of uncertainty throughout all of the US hiring departments in all fields right now), but it certainly wasn't that hard a couple of years ago. Compilers are just programs like anything else. All the compiler developers I know were trained up by working on compilers. Just like people writing B2B ecommerce software learned how to do so by working on B2B e-comm…

But there are magnitudes more B2B ecommerce software than compilers for people to get experience on.

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#96

Post by laidoffamazon »

For those unaware or may find her name familar, Rona is known for her plagiarism scandal. She blocks anyone on Twitter who asks about it or the book she got a substantial advance for but didn’t publish after this scandal came to light. She seems to have walked away from it - this utter elite impunity makes me sick.

https://www.halfmystic.com/blog/you-are-believed

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#97

Post by laidoffamazon »

munificent wrote: post #13
chubot wrote: post #9

Very interesting and informative! I'm a bit shocked that it would take significant effort/creativity for an MIT grad with relevant course/project work to get a job in the niche I would have thought the recruiting pipeline is kinda smooth Although maybe it's a smaller niche than I think -- I imagine compiler engineers skew more senior. Maybe it's not a common first or second job I graduated at the bottom of bear marke…

> I'm a bit shocked that it would take significant effort/creativity for an MIT grad with relevant course/project work to get a job in the niche That bit was heartbreaking to me too. I knew the economy was bad for new grads but if a double major from MIT in SF is struggling, then the economy is cooked.

Elaborate on this. Is it not sad when a UIUC Or Perdue grad can’t get a compiler engineer job out of undergrad? What does it mean to be cooked?

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#98

Post by laidoffamazon »

munificent wrote: post #14

Tangential but since she mentions her book, "You Had Me At Hello World", is the cutest title for a nerd romance novel that I can imagine.

It was supposed to be out years ago! She got a substantial advance but presumably delayed it due to the plagiarism scandal

Re: Becoming a compiler engineer

#99

Post by laidoffamazon »

munificent wrote: post #13
chubot wrote: post #9

Very interesting and informative! I'm a bit shocked that it would take significant effort/creativity for an MIT grad with relevant course/project work to get a job in the niche I would have thought the recruiting pipeline is kinda smooth Although maybe it's a smaller niche than I think -- I imagine compiler engineers skew more senior. Maybe it's not a common first or second job I graduated at the bottom of bear marke…

> I'm a bit shocked that it would take significant effort/creativity for an MIT grad with relevant course/project work to get a job in the niche That bit was heartbreaking to me too. I knew the economy was bad for new grads but if a double major from MIT in SF is struggling, then the economy is cooked.

Also I’m 99% sure she had another job full time before this
Post reply on HN