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Variations on a Theme by Josh Matta

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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Eh, it's ok. As you aptly proved to me two or three years ago, it's not that I don't have the skills to ride a mountain bike, it's that I don't have the skills for riding and the rocks / roots / trees / obstacles / etc. prove it.

:(:cool::D:rolleyes:

It was damned fun though!

Meh, you'll get another chance. This time we'll take Wendy and we can both be schooled.
 

Monique

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@mdf @Tony S - thanks. I'm working through some study guides and forcing myself to do practice exercises - on paper for now, which is hard enough!

Lots of thoughts, but definitely straying off-topic.
 

JeffB

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It's not that you lack the requisite focus to finish the task you've been assigned, it's that you -- hey, did you see that puppy? So adorable - reminds me of this YouTube clip about a puppy afraid of the stairs. You haven't seen it? We HAVE to watch it right now!
 

Monique

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It's not that you lack the requisite focus to finish the task you've been assigned, it's that you -- hey, did you see that puppy? So adorable - reminds me of this YouTube clip about a puppy afraid of the stairs. You haven't seen it? We HAVE to watch it right now!

That is also exactly my issue right now.
 

Jim McDonald

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That's my life story... :roflmao:
 

at_nyc

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Yeah, I don't come up with designs on the fly very well either. On the other hand, I'm pretty confident that I am very good at what I do.
I can do design on the fly just fine. But don't ask me to code it on the spot.

My mind wanders a lot. So thinking fast is not my strong point, though thinking thoroughly is. Good trait in design but not so good at doing the "easy" task of implementation.

In actual work environment, I'll simply go get some water to refocus my mind. But during an interview? The pressure gets to me, every time.
 

KevinF

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I can do design on the fly just fine. But don't ask me to code it on the spot.

My mind wanders a lot. So thinking fast is not my strong point, though thinking thoroughly is. Good trait in design but not so good at doing the "easy" task of implementation.

In actual work environment, I'll simply go get some water to refocus my mind. But during an interview? The pressure gets to me, every time.

*raising hand as another software nerd here*

My "standard" interview question involves "Write a function to return the Nth Fibonacci number". (For those of you who aren't software nerds, this is a freshman-level six-line coding problem). I like it because it's simple and because it allows various follow up questions. Others in my group ask far more devious questions ("delete a node from a binary search tree", "reverse the order of a linked list", etc.)

The number of people who can't do it greatly outnumbers those who can to the point where I'm amazed when an interview candidate can actually do it. (And if they can't do it in less than five minutes, your chances of getting a job offer are exactly zero). New college grads, those with previous experience, etc. -- batting average is the same. I've had people stare at the whiteboard for a solid half hour trying to think of how to do this.

Maybe I'm selective, but I want this guy:
 

David Chaus

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Monique, this is an interesting topic. Really deserves its own thread. I happen to think that few of us are Mozarts

In all likelihood Mozart wasn't Mozart, or at least the child prodigy/genius that he is generally thought to have been. Researchers who investigate "giftedness" have observed that these individuals practice, practice, practice, and they are nurtured by extremely capable teachers and mentors. In Mozart's case, his father was (for his time) an expert in teaching music to children, and Wolfgang Amadeus took to the piano, really enjoyed it from an early age, and was willing to invest the time to become proficient from an early age. The family also had the economic means to devote their lives to this.

So yeah, Mozart was pretty F&$*ing awesome as a musician and composer, but it didn't just come out of nowhere.
 

bbinder

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It's not that you can't play the bass line on Billie Jean; it's that you have no rhythm and Billie Jean proves it
 

Monique

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For @Monique...it's not that you can't program in Visual C++, you can't program and Visual C++ proves it. :D

I mean, Visual Studio is the absolute best C++ IDE out there. So yeah, if you can't manage there, you can't manage anywhere ...
 

at_nyc

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Haven't done C++ for nearly a decade now. Never used Visual Studio even when I was coding C++.

I'm not a big fan of IDE. I use it but not in love with any particular one.

Others in my group ask far more devious questions ("delete a node from a binary search tree", "reverse the order of a linked list", etc.)
I'm glad you agree those are devious questions!

Here's anothe one: "Implement a thread pool". Although I quickly laid out the design, I completely stuffed it in the middle of implementing the design. Fortunately for me, the interviewer was in a good mood. Gave me some hints to get it going again.

I got the job. :)
 
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1chris5

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*raising hand as another software nerd here*

My "standard" interview question involves "Write a function to return the Nth Fibonacci number". (For those of you who aren't software nerds, this is a freshman-level six-line coding problem). I like it because it's simple and because it allows various follow up questions. Others in my group ask far more devious questions ("delete a node from a binary search tree", "reverse the order of a linked list", etc.)

The number of people who can't do it greatly outnumbers those who can to the point where I'm amazed when an interview candidate can actually do it. (And if they can't do it in less than five minutes, your chances of getting a job offer are exactly zero). New college grads, those with previous experience, etc. -- batting average is the same. I've had people stare at the whiteboard for a solid half hour trying to think of how to do this.

Maybe I'm selective, but I want this guy:
Thanks - This thread has motivated me to learn python (>>> fib(13) => 144). Cheers
 
Thread Starter
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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It's not that you don't like Italian wine. It's that you don't like wine and that lovely Chianti proves it.
 

CalG

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It's not that I am a better person,and my saying you are inferior proves I am not.

'jes saying.....
 

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