[Tutor] Python Interview Questions..

[Marc Tompkins]

On Fri, May 27, 2011 at 1:59 AM, Alan Gauld <alan.gauld at btinternet.com>wrote:

>
> I want them to have studied the subject deeply and have a wealth of
> experience. Studying computing because its an easy option is not an option
> because its never easy.


That was the point that Joel and I were making.  The CS programs that have
become Java schools now make the curriculum as easy as possible because they
used to flunk lots of students, or lose them to other majors - they
obviously saw that as a Bad Thing, but it actually wasn't.  A degree from a
school that flunks a lot of students actually means something; a degree from
a school where everybody passes is about as meaningful as a Participation
trophy.



> And anyone who starts down that road will be weeded out very quickly.


Not quickly enough!  They should be weeded out IN SCHOOL, or before they
even commit to a computer-science track.  It's cruel to students,
inefficient for business, and disastrous for consumers if they don't get
weeded out until they're already employed as programmers.


>  Software can only be written by programmers, its the definition of the
> term.


You knew what I meant; don't be coy.  Anybody with a wrench and some pipe is
a plumber.  Doesn't mean I'm letting him work on my dishwasher.

The point I was trying to make, which apparently I didn't state clearly
enough, was: Professional programmers - I really supported the effort, years
back, to protect the term "software engineer" - should be familiar with the
ins and outs of computers, not just with the quirks of the language they are
employed to use.  To use my dishwasher analogy from a moment ago, I'm sure
we've all been visited by the appliance repairman (or auto mechanic, or
whatever) who only knows how to replace a single component, and who
therefore sees every malfunction as requiring a new control board.  I don't
want him either!  I want the guy who's worked on lots of appliances - not
just dishwashers, not just my model - because he's going to have a better
idea of how it all works when it's working, and what can go wrong when it's
not.

At the same time - coming back to the theme of this group - I'm enthusiastic
about the idea of people learning to fix their own dishwashers, and - if
they love it, and get really good at it - becoming employed as appliance
repair professionals.  I have now officially over-worked this analogy.

There were a couple of other points I wanted to answer, but I'm out of
time.  It does seem that we mostly agree - certainly we agree that Java
stinks!
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