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I Am a Bad Developer

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161–170 of 223 posts

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#161

Post by corwinstephen »

I once had an interview in which I solved the entire esoteric question with relative ease, and then proceeded to entirely forget how Ruby's block syntax worked. Literally couldn't figure out how to use max_by. The dear in the headlights syndrome happens to a lot of us, and when it does, it really makes you feel stupid. Trust me, you're not the first person in those shoes. You WILL find a job, and over time your confidence will be renewed. In the mean time, why don't you take some contract work? There are always just-starting companies out there who barely even know what they're looking for. I can almost guarantee you'd be able to be of service to them.

Keep us posted my friend!

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#162

Post by BSousa »

Come to Portugal. We like bad coders here. Seriously. 99% chance you won't have a technical interview.

I lead a team (and have lead others) that I would prefer just to fire everyone and do it myself (latest gem found today in the code: self.parent.parent.parent.parent.parent.parent, done by previous 'senior' developer).

So, if coming to Portugal not an option, interview in less tech related companies (forget SV and NY) and go for smaller ones with 1-2 developers supporting the business needs. If what you and others say about your work is right, you probably can be a good developer in those environments just not at big/hip tech ones.

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#163

Post by ikurei »

I don't get it. And it get's me worried.

I'm exactly at the first years of my programmer career, just got my degree, and I was thinking in which I'd like to specialize and how I want to do things... but how can I succeed when all that hard work can get you to failing any way?

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#164

Post by kgabis »

bfung wrote: post #42

No sympathy here. "I am a bad developer"... so? At least you have recognition of a problem, now time to improve. Why the rejetions? Has any company told you what exactly were the reasons for rejection? Ask for a reply from the interviewers and the specific questions. Don't get those questions wrong again. I contribute to a plethora of open source projects in a range of languages such as C++, Perl, Python, and even va…

    I loop twice, so complexity is O(2N).
Actually, it's still O(N).

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#165

Post by wowwhatajerk »

weareconvo wrote: post #82
bicknergseng wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or is the hiring practice of reducing someone's technical competence to a handful of esoteric questions arbitrary and broken? Certainly the hiring practices of Google et al, generally the worst perpetrators of cs bingo in my experience. Started a startup, you say? Rebuilt a non-trivial webapp? Won a hackathon? That's great, but we're going to need you to implement red-black trees and variations of fizzbuzz until yo…

Did interviews for 5+ years at Google... the real problem is that there's no uniformity to the hiring process. I was allowed to just make up my own questions and judge candidates based on those. And I did so. And admittedly, the questions I asked were so difficult that I seriously doubt I myself could've answered them when I first got hired. But I didn't give a crap, because hiring is something you're kind of coerced…

There's a brilliant algorithm. In the interest of looking good for promotion, waste everybody's time, miss out on the good people that would help the company succeed (and presumably that would grow the stock valuation), and, the good interview candidates miss out on a job that feeds them and helps them grow their career. Just brilliant.

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#166

Post by zng »

kgabis wrote: post #164
bfung wrote: post #42

No sympathy here. "I am a bad developer"... so? At least you have recognition of a problem, now time to improve. Why the rejetions? Has any company told you what exactly were the reasons for rejection? Ask for a reply from the interviewers and the specific questions. Don't get those questions wrong again. I contribute to a plethora of open source projects in a range of languages such as C++, Perl, Python, and even va…

I loop twice, so complexity is O(2N). Actually, it's still O(N).

Yes. But O(2N) = O(N) :D

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#167

Post by [deleted] »

aphelion wrote: post #144
michaelochurch wrote: post #58

Being a good programmer is not the same thing as being a good engineer or developer. Also, there are the true and corporate varieties of each. True Developer: builds technical assets (apps, scripts) based on business needs, often by self-initiated awareness of what the company's needs are. Corporate Developer: turns managerial ideas (with no audit of whether those are good ideas) into apps that sorta work, very quick…

In half a year the Corporate Developer will still have a job because he knows how to build "apps that sorta work, very quickly" while the True Developer spent most of that time developing his own dialect of Lisp and his team never shipped a product.

[deleted]

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#168

Post by ccozan »

_sabe_ wrote: post #152
iguana wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go on Dice, then search for any job listing requiring J2EE/struts/hibernate. The technical interview will consist of explaining what polymorphism is and a handful of OO design patterns like singletons and factories. Then give a poignant speech about the evils of multiple inheritance, why interfaces are better, why you love XML, why writing SQL statements in the code is wrong and the only way to talk to a DB is with O…

Why is the only way to talk to a DB with an ORM? Why cant you have SQL in the code? Sounds like you think the only way to write well structured and clean code is by introducing more layers of complexity?

My dear, the parent was slightly sarcastic. But he is right, that in order to please the corporate ears, you need to sing the 'right song'. You get hired in no time. Learn the corporate buzz words, etc. Once in, you will meet some saner persons, which do the right job, so that you will not feel to be in some mental institution, where all speak some acronym gibberish.

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#169

Post by nevinera »

Tichy wrote: post #157
nevinera wrote: post #76

You had some money, and you didn't feel "fulfilled", so you took a break for a few months? And all the comments are about how poorly designed the interview process is.. The thing I want everyone to take away is "don't gamble with your fucking income." You know what's worse than ennui? Being broke and jobless is. Going into debt because of a radical misunderstanding of job markets is worse. I'm sure you are a perfectl…

Living in a permanent fear of being jobless could be quite harmful in the long run...

Please explain your assertion? Unless you're talking psychology, in which case please don't bother.

Re: I Am a Bad Developer

#170

Post by Tichy »

nevinera wrote: post #169
Tichy wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living in a permanent fear of being jobless could be quite harmful in the long run...

Please explain your assertion? Unless you're talking psychology, in which case please don't bother.

Out of fear you might not dare choosing a more rewarding path/job. Should be obvious?

I suppose you are also at risk of working longer hours, risking your health.

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