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>my instructors emphasized the value of a technical portfolio: we
> were encouraged to include well-commented code, any user documentation we
> created, and a disk of the program so a prospective employer could see the
> program execute. My peers often took this material along on interviews as
> a means of demonstrating competance. And on more than one occasion, I and
> others have had to write code to prove we knew how. Newly-minted geeks
> have just as much trouble demonstrating experience and ability as new
> writers.
I'm not a geek, but in my role as anthropologist to geeks (AKA the token
non-programmer in start-ups), I have the chance for some participant
observation. So, I can say that asking for some sample code is very
common in job interviews. Considerations include not only the
functionality of the code, but also how it is arranged and commented. In
other words, layout can be as much of an issue in coding as in writing
and for a very practical reason: the chances are very good that someone
else is going to access the code some day.
The habit of asking for sample code during job interviews seems to be
especially strong in Open Source companies, possibly because coders has
a hard time showing a plausible interest in Open Source if they haven't
actually worked on any Open Source projects.
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
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