Gregory's Server
Most programming technical tests reveal more about the people who set them than the people taking them.
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6 posts total
I don't know where this idea comes from that FAANG excel at software engineering. Like all large corps, they're a power law distribution of capabilities, from abysmal to excellent. Nandos make a lot of money, but I wouldn't bother applying to L'Enclume if I did my training there. The inescapable reality is that excellence in software engineering, like restaurants, doesn't scale.
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 @jasongorman They have done some clever things, but when you dig down into their technical solutions they are usually a variation of "we have lots of money so just throw more hardware at it."  @jasongorman It's even worse. They drive out everyone who excels and knows their worth, and hire for one of 3 things: (1) mediocrity, (2) alignment with corporate agenda, and (3) folks they can hold in visa traps.  @jasongorman This is, I believe, one reason the corps are so excited about code written by "AI". Mediocrity may be mediocre, but they know how to scale it consistently. Just spend more money. (I doubt AI can deliver even mediocrity at scale, but the corps haven't figured that out yet so…) Seeing a lot of hero-worship for NVIDIA's CEO on social media. It's pretty impressive how, after 30 years as CEO, he suddenly got really good at it in 2023. And AMD's CEO suddenly got really good at her job at around the same time. You'll note in the longer-term trend that the ramp-ups began at around the same time OpenAI was formed. The problem with Test-Driven Development is that you have to think about what you want the code to do before you write it. And that ruins the surprise.
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@jasongorman tdd can work well if you have a good idea what you want. I personally like scaffold testing. You build the thing, create a test that's good enough, then move on. Then create some really good integration tests. Works out well in older systems that have very little or no testing. @jasongorman @Gargron maybe if you des rive the test in ChatGPT prompt and ask for the code that would pas that test ? @jasongorman also, users are infinitely more creative at finding bugs and holes than test cases can ever be. OpenAI Board: "You're fired!" Altman: "Are you sure about that?" OpenAI Board: "I apologize for the confusion in my previous answer. You are hired. We are fired." @jasongorman  Thursday's hot take: I think a good standard of general education is more important for a software developer than a computing degree.   |
@jasongorman omg so true