Readit NewsMy journey All USD $ are gross annualized and approximate. No bonuses/stock. Doesn't include employer-paid health or retirement.
2006, Tenured professor at a community college, $43K to $65K
2011, Developer at a state agency, $84K
2013, Development Team Lead, $90K
2017, IT Manager, $100K
The only benefit I can think of that benefits is specialized software like games or scientific analysis/simulation. But for what most users want, JavaScript is fast enough. The example I keep hearing is "imagine gimp in the browser" but it's already possible to make a gimp like application in the browser using things like canvas and the file api.
So by the time webassembly is ready for the prime and has needed features like memory management and Dom access, will it even by worth it beyond a few specific applications?
But neither of those necessitate JavaScript; JS is just a language that happens to run in the browser and has DOM API bindings (and the other browser APIs too). There's no reason those identical bindings couldn't be provided in any other language.
I do hiring for our agency, which consists entirely of non-rock-stars, at non-rock-star pay, solving non-rock-star problems, in non-rock-star time. We still do practical tests for all interviews. Some people, actually, do just get up and walk out. I wish they'd at least look.
We do problems on the level of "fizz-buzz" or similar. Quick 10-20 minute problems. We don't make full completion a binary success/failure metric. We just want to hear you discuss your thought process and see that you're aware of variables, if statements, and for loops. Because, yeah, turns out some candidates who claim years of programming experience ... aren't.
But no tricks. And we also make sure the request is suitable to the resume (think about it as resume validation). So we wouldn't say "Python person, write a method for us in C#" or vice-versa. Smart people can easily cross-train themselves once the job starts. It's more about finding someone who has the fundamentals and can apply them.
In conclusion, I would defend the hands-on "tech" interview as necessary and not even evil.
I've been thinking of using B&H instead of Amazon for electronic stuff, assuming that their reputation means they are less likely to enable counterfeit sellers, but I don't know that for sure. I also don't know if other online sites (jet.com?) have or don't have the counterfeit issue.
Nothing gets my goat more than this kind of thing. Suddenly, if I don't want to be harassed every day, I "can't hack it"?
Usually it's simple like "they moved on" or "they were promoted". One time I got an angry, "Well they just couldn't handle it here!" Huge red flag
Tools change like fashion. What is "hot" today will be nearly frowned on in 5 years and forgotten in a decade or so. In 20 years the fundamentals still matter, the tools, not so much (Pascal? Powerbuilder? Win32 in C?)
A smart developer can learn any tool. Hire for aptitude, not today's toolset.
Interviews can help accommodate this by allowing the candidate to solve a coding test in a language of their choice, while also inquiring about the candidate's learning plans. (Want to make sure they are willing to adapt to the team's tools and not try to force the team to adapt to them!)
I took a job once where the code base was in a FORTRAN-derivative language. I had never used FORTRAN or anything like it. Not a problem. I studied the code. I studied the docs. I figured it out and did the work. I would expect nothing less of any other competent developer.
Another job had a toolchain based on NodeJS on the server-side. Never used NodeJS. Not a problem. Studied the code. Studied the docs. You know the story.
The key skill is a developer's willingness and ability to learn the tools that are desired for the job at hand, and to accept and learn new tools when the time is right.
More significantly, investment income opportunities need to have their interest rate (or equivalent) assessed. For example, in the past 12 months, the DIA has risen 18%. Thus, if 12 months ago I had money to spare, it would have been better to put the money into DIA rather than make an extra principal payment on the mortgage, unless my mortgage is 18% or more.
With the exception of bonds and CDs, it's not possible to know the investment growth in advance, so that creates some risk of course.
You could imagine a USB device that presented as a harmless file store unless certain conditions were detected, in which case the device could re-present as a keyboard (providing pre-programmed keystrokes) or potentially a bluetooth or wireless network receiver that could log or analyze traffic to a hidden partition.
I think the question of how to safely analyze suspect USB devices, at the level of potential nation-state actors, needs a lot more consideration and probably some custom tooling.