Ask HN: What obstacles stand in the way for a “bar exam” for programming jobs?

This first concert in my mind is that while programming core concepts have not changed much in 30 years, the stuff you put on your resume has. Laws don't change very often and only in small details ways. A lawyer can still reference a law passed hundreds of years ago and it's relevant in a real world in the job scenario. Programming on the other hand, is far less stable. Furthermore, employers are always looking for key words in the resume. Do you know this language and this framework? I don't think they care or evening look for core concepts (maybe a problem in it's in right).

There seems to be a belief that such an exam would produce uniformly high caliber practitioners. There are plenty of lousy members of every regulated profession.

The exams in regulated professions are designed to test that you know the jargon and general knowledge of the field (anatomy and physiology, case law, etc,). The day-to-day application of that knowledge is usually consistent with that knowledge. Outstanding members of the field are determined by years of experience and specialization.

Software doesn't meet any of those expectations. The jargon changes weekly and your expertise with O notation and hash tables means almost nothing in day-to-day practice. The fixation on evaluating candidates on those topics is more about what's handy as a way to narrow the hiring funnel than it is about measuring what's important.

Software development is a creative activity. You can't measure that. Safety critical software is developed under regulatory guidelines enforced by process requirements and certification of organizations that follow those processes.

I work for a company that makes electronic products. We outsource the signing-off kind of engineering to a company that also does electrical regulatory testing for us. Here's my impression about it.

The work is boring, as in mind-crushing boring. You don't get to invent or design anything. Your job is to watch other people invent things, and then run those things through a set of checklists, while documenting everything.

One thing about programming is that it's democratic, inasmuch as anybody can download Python and start programming. Including me. Nobody will stop me, and I will invent things. We already have the situation in my department, that I'm not "allowed" to program, meaning that I "prototype" things, and the programming department turns them into a product that can be shipped.

Programming is too important to be left to the programmers. ;-)

High school kids program. Some of them are surprisingly good. High school kids don't practice law. The fields simply don't compare and should not attempt the same standards.