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Programmer Competency Matrix

starling-software.com

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Re: Programmer Competency Matrix

#71

Post by LnxPrgr3 »

andrewvc wrote: post #31

This is someone's (very arbitrary) opinion in a grid. I hope you don't actually interview people. Figuring out someone's skill level is a soft science; it takes months after a hire to really know where someone is. Some people I know are great at fixing bugs but have narrow language experience. They're damn valuable. Others integrate well into teams and provide great product feedback. Where's that on here? Experience…

I must've read this very differently. I rolled my eyes and skipped over the experience table. I've seen one too many programmers with literally decades of experience but still without a clue.

But the rest… I assume it's a matrix for a reason. Someone isn't a level log(n) programming mage, but he or she might be a level log(n) data structure and algorithm wielder, a level n^2 systems programming apprentice, and a level n requirements gatherer, or some other combination of strengths and weaknesses. It's still a lossy abstraction, but significantly less so taken that way.

Re: Programmer Competency Matrix

#72

Post by Jun8 »

tptacek wrote: post #57
Swizec wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people have 10 years of experience. Others have 1 year of experience 10 times.

What a great quote. I wonder where it came from.

This is a quote I use very often! As with many other great quotes, I think it originates in English from Trevanian's Shibumi (when Otake-san, the Go master is giving his final teaching to Nicholai):

Do not fall into the error of the artisan who boasts of twenty years experience in his craft while in fact he has had only one year of experience — twenty times.

Most probably Trevanian has drawn upon some other source, tough I've never been able to track that.

If you haven't read this fantastic book I strongly recommend it.

Re: Programmer Competency Matrix

#74

Post by lathamcity »

Here's mine:

Level 0: Saw the post title and didn't think he needed to look at it because he was so confident in his abilities already.

Level 1: Read the post, noticed a lot that he didn't know but didn't intend to do anything about it.

Level 2: Read the post and went out and learned everything in it that he didn't know.

Level 3: Read the post, figured out which things from it he didn't know but might need to or want to, and learned those.

Oh, and a special level -1: Read the post, noticed a lot of things that he didn't know, and decided the post was stupid because clearly he's an amazing programmer and the post didn't agree with that self-assessment.

Re: Programmer Competency Matrix

#75

Post by samstave »

praptak wrote: post #5
ColinWright wrote: post #2

Those who are interested in this subject and want to discuss it, you may be interested in seeing the points - good and bad - that have been made on previous occasions that this has been submitted. Here are a few previous discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=232192 (indiangeek.net) 75 points 4 years ago 33 comments http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=554338 (indiangeek.net) 83 points 3 years ago 33 comments…

111 comments 1 year ago had 155 upvotes, not 1. The upvote count patterns are interesting nevertheless :)

Maybe it had only one upvote, 155 times.

Re: Programmer Competency Matrix

#76

Post by Zimahl »

lucian1900 wrote: post #11

Many are biased (objects > functions), several are not useful and a few are plain wrong. Meh.

Agreed. I'm not sure how 'Source Code Version Control' and 'Build Automation' is anywhere near the words 'Software Engineering'. And 'Automated Testing' isn't a given at a lot of shops.

Professionally, I've never set up version control. It's there when I start the job, it'll be there when I leave. I've branched and merged but a lot of times this is handled by a build manager. Build automation I have never expressly done - a shop that needs continuous integration is typically one where it is already set up.

Seriously, unless the job is 'Build Manager' then the question should be just used to gauge what you might have to teach them. 'Have you used source/version control software? Which ones?' 'Do you have experience with build automation tools?'.

Re: Programmer Competency Matrix

#77

Post by robbles »

npsimons wrote: post #41

Interesting. One thing that caught my eye was "someone who knows most of the tools from Scott Hanselman's power tools list." I had never heard of Scott Hanselman, nor his power tools list and had to look it up. Frankly, it looks useless to me as a programmer and looks more like a list of desktop gadgets, and watered down versions of tools you get for free with most Linux distributions. He also doesn't mention Linux (…

Another part of that item was confusing to me as well - "ORM tools". I'm assuming this isn't referring to an ORM library or framework, since this section seems to be about editors, IDEs, and other desktop software. What are "ORM tools"?
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