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Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2012 13:11:52 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: Re: Python Interview Questions
From: Demian Brecht <demianbrecht@gmail.com>
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Cc: python-list@python.org, Roy Smith <roy@panix.com>
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On Monday, 9 July 2012 10:40:59 UTC-7, Tim Chase  wrote:
> On 07/09/12 08:25, Roy Smith wrote:
> >> On Tuesday, 30 October 2007 21:24:04 UTC+2, Tim Chase  wrote:
> >=20
> >>> - more detailed questions about the std. libraries (such as
> >>>    datetime/email/csv/zipfile/networking/optparse/unittest)
> >=20
> > You need to be careful when you ask questions like this.  I would expec=
t=20
> > somebody to be aware of those and have a high-level understanding of=20
> > what they do, but certainly not remember the details of the exact synta=
x=20
> > and argument order.  Even with stuff I use everyday (like unittest and=
=20
> > datetime), I have a browser open to the reference manual most of the=20
> > time.
>=20
> Yeah, the aim isn't to grill them on the minutia, but to get a
> feeling that they know the basics.  The zipfile module offers a
> ZipFile object for reading/writing zip files with or without
> compression.  The CSV file allows for reading/writing CSV files with
> definable delimiters and quoting/escaping.  Etc.
>=20
>=20
> >>> - questions about PDB
> >=20
> > Heh.  I would answer that with, "Python Debugger?  I've never used it".
>=20
> The ability to know off the top of your head that it's the "Python
> Debugger" is more than enough :-)  That's just first-order
> ignorance:  you know what you don't know and can spend a few minutes
> reading up on it if you need it.  The second[or higher]-order
> ignorance of not knowing what pdb is (or, if you need more powerful
> debugging, how to do it) is sign the person hasn't been programming
> in Python much.
>=20
> >>> Python History:
> >>> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> >>> - decorators added in which version?
> >>>
> >>> - "batteries included" SQL-capible DB in which version?
> >>>
> >>> - the difference between "class Foo" and "class Foo(object)"
> >>>
> >>> - questions from "import this" about pythonic code
> >=20
> > With the exception of the question about new-style classes, these are=
=20
> > silly questions.  I was around when both decorators and sqlite3 were=20
> > added.  I couldn't possible tell you when to any precision better than=
=20
> > "2 dot something".=20
>=20
> I'd even be satisfied if a person just knew that such features
> weren't there all along and might need to be worked around for older
> deployments.
>=20
> > As for the zen of python, it's cute, and a piece of python
> > folklore, but hardly an essential part of being a good python p
>=20
> [Ed: something appears to have gotten truncated there]  Yeah, it's
> more about a person being sufficiently steeped in python to know
> bits and pieces of the zen, and their ability to recognize/create
> pythonic code.  I've seen enough Java-written-in-Python to know what
> I don't want :-)
>=20
> -tkc

Definitely appreciate your approach, I've asked similar questions when inte=
rviewing.

I also usually like to ask what a candidate likes and dislikes about Python=
, hoping for the GIL to creep up, along with an explanation as to what it i=
s, implementations that don't have it along with methods of getting around =
the lock (although that would be a fairly advanced topic IMHO). If it doesn=
't come up, sometimes I'll pop it in depending on their level of experience=
.