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Re: A question about a programming class

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rossum wrote:
> On Sat, 7 May 2011 19:01:53 -0700 (PDT), Chad <cdalten@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>For example, the last exam was 65 points. He docked me 1 point for
>>every missing semi-colon.
>
> Part of the skill of programming is a nit-picking attention to detail.
> The Professor is right.  With misplaced semicolons your program will
> either not compile or, much worse, will compile but not do what you
> want it to.
> 
>>He docked me 4 points for not completely
>>following the directions on one of the programming problems, even
>>though the program produced the correct results.
>
> I would have docked more.  When an employer is paying you money to
> write programs, you have *got* to follow instructions.  If you think
> the instructions are wrong then you can discuss with your line
> manager, but the bottom line is that they are paying your wages to
> write what they want.
> 
> Follow the directions.  They're there to be followed.

I just wanted to chime in on this. This is not just some college bull.

I've been participating in the hiring initiative of the company I'm
currently employed by for a few years now, and we're running a set of
problems as a primary means of candidate screening. If a given solution
does not compile/run under the highest strictness settings applicable
(-std=c++98 -pedantic -Wall -Wextra for C++, use warnings/use strict for
Perl 5, E_ALL | E_STRICT for PHP5 etc.), you are likely to get no points
for it at all, maybe 1/10 or 2/10 if the algorithm merits it. Failure to
follow the problem spec to the letter, including trivial things such as a
function name other than specified, normally means the solution will not
get more than half points, even if it's otherwise perfect. Candidates
scoring less than half points total are not even considered for the
positions offered, whatever their other merits.

This isn't just random nitpicking either. As others posters in this thread
mentioned, obsessive attention to detail is a critical part of any
successful programmer's professional approach. People who can't or won't
concentrate on the task at hand produce terrible results in a practical
setting.

And, no offense, but I would be just delighted if more teachers in the field
adopted the attitude your professor seems to exhibit - that would save me a
ton of time talking to people who think they're qualified, but aren't.

-- 
Pavel Lepin

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A question about a programming class Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2011-05-07 18:57 -0700
  Re: A question about a programming class Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2011-05-07 19:01 -0700
    Re: A question about a programming class rossum <rossum48@coldmail.com> - 2011-05-08 18:49 +0100
      Re: A question about a programming class Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2011-05-08 13:25 -0700
        Re: A question about a programming class Robert Spanjaard <spamtrap@arumes.com> - 2011-05-08 23:04 +0200
        Re: A question about a programming class Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2011-05-09 10:28 +1200
          Re: A question about a programming class Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2011-05-08 16:56 -0700
          Re: A question about a programming class rossum <rossum48@coldmail.com> - 2011-05-09 13:09 +0100
        Re: A question about a programming class Sherm Pendley <sherm.pendley@gmail.com> - 2011-05-09 08:01 -0400
      Re: A question about a programming class Pavel Lepin <p.lepin@dyninno.com> - 2011-05-09 12:17 +0300
        Re: A question about a programming class Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2011-05-10 12:50 +0100
          Re: A question about a programming class pete <pfiland@mindspring.com> - 2011-05-10 09:32 -0400
            Re: A question about a programming class Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2011-05-10 10:14 -0700
          Re: A question about a programming class Pavel Lepin <p.lepin@dyninno.com> - 2011-05-10 18:05 +0300
    Re: A question about a programming class Patricia Shanahan <pats@acm.org> - 2011-05-09 16:34 -0700
  Re: A question about a programming class Sherm Pendley <sherm.pendley@gmail.com> - 2011-05-09 08:00 -0400
    Re: A question about a programming class Chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2011-05-09 10:21 -0700

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