:) This is surely just degenerating into parody now. I can't wait for part 4: "Build a Turing Machine from scratch using paper-clips and sticky tape and send it to me for grading. Remember to show your working and no looking it up on Google."
It is irrelevant because the real world is composed of CRUD apps in [Java, C#, PHP], and you don't need to know most of the subjects the OP talks in his "tests." It is a parody, because the OP seems to not have worked a common software position, where most time is spent building new UIs for marketing or management, making complex and awkward joins, and making sure changes don't break the spaghetti. It all sounds like academia talk, which is fine (and valuable), but not a real sign of real world programming.
I will say that the tests have been fun to complete, and have helped me fill in the gaps here and there. But as someone who is hiring programmers at this very moment, I would not hire someone with such an approach to programming. This person would (I assume from experience) write complex code all day to show off his/her knowledge of advanced CS topics. Then not document it because the code is just obvious to read. And finally quit after a month because the job is not up to his/her standards or challenging. They would then write a blog post ranting about how programming has turned into a circus or produce a series of "tests" to show off their superior knowledge.
irahul|13 years ago
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4635946
orangethirty|13 years ago
I will say that the tests have been fun to complete, and have helped me fill in the gaps here and there. But as someone who is hiring programmers at this very moment, I would not hire someone with such an approach to programming. This person would (I assume from experience) write complex code all day to show off his/her knowledge of advanced CS topics. Then not document it because the code is just obvious to read. And finally quit after a month because the job is not up to his/her standards or challenging. They would then write a blog post ranting about how programming has turned into a circus or produce a series of "tests" to show off their superior knowledge.