Is bringing printed code or code on a USB to an interview a good idea? If so, what kind of code should I bring. Should I avoid big projects and just show small snippets which show off my skills?
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Rather not. I would only do this when explicitely requested, and of course you can't bring code that's in any way confidential, which usually applies to everything you wrote in your previous job, so you are basically restricted to code you created in your spare time. (Most interviewers would immediately have you escorted to the door if you come with confidental code from your current employer...) Anyway, as the interviewer, I'd rather want to see you write code during the interview, so I can be sure you are the one who has the skills. It's just too easy to have good friends help you write a most impressing piece of code, and memorize the explanations. |
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The code you show should generally be small enough to be talked about within 5 minutes, and the code should take up no more than 2 printed pages. Even if it's just a method that you wrote to parse phone numbers from a phone book, it's useful. |
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I think it's a great idea! It's a pity code reviews are not done more frequently as it is one of the few ways of recognize good programmers (except actually having them code something). Looking at someone's code you pretty quickly get a sense of how good a programmer is just because how much "cleaner" their code is. If I was interviewing I would be looking at two things that probably would be good to cover in the code you bring a) The quality of some implementation/method/algorithm. Show some code that you found especially elegant b) The overall architecture of a larger program. How has the programmer handled dependencies, can he explain the design decisions he's made The goal is not to go through all code so it really doesn't matter how long the code you bring actually is, but what you chose to highlight about it. |
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If you want carry the design. Don't carry the code. More than seeing the cleanness, the interviewer will start pointing out the errors. There certainly would be (many) errors (which you haven't thought of) if the project is some high school project. And if it is some company code, it is illegal to carry the copyrighted code and show to other people. |
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A variation on this is to provide the interviewer with the URL for the repository for some open-source project that you've made a major contribution to. |
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No. Unless you are scheduled to give a reasonable length presentation in your interview, the kind of code you have the time to show and they have the time to appreciate; cannot be representative of your skill, regardless of where you are in your career. If they want to see evidence that you are a mature software developer, then that won't be found in the size of program that you can effectively walk through in the AOB section of an interview. If they want you to demonstrate that you can program at all, they'll have a proper test, or get you to do something small like a linked list on-the-spot. If you bring along a linked list implementation on a USB key, they have no idea how much of it you copied from a book; whether it took you 10 minutes or two weeks; or whether you had to ask stackoverflow what a pointer is. Moreover, what would you show? Clean, well-written code that is easily understandable is boring. Your interviewers won't sit there marvelling at how clearly they can grasp the intent of your snippet, they will be wondering why you consider it to be the jewel in your crown. On the other hand, Imagine you invented something clever like Duff's Device, and wanted to show that off. The interviewers would likely consider you an enemy of readability. |
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If you have a piece of code that is particularly interesting, then by all means bring it (assuming, of course, that it's not protected intellectual property). But don't force it on the interviewer. If s/he is interested in looking at your code, s/he'll ask if you have anything to show. Be prepared to explain why it's interesting, and better, what you'd do differently in the future. |
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Yes!
For that reason alone you should show off |
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If you have done any open-source development (either business or personal), I think this would be a great idea. I sent code snippets along with the application materials for the job I currently have, so I'd venture a guess that it worked out OK for me. Make sure to respect confidentiality/copyright and give attribution to others who were involved (if it was a collaborative project). |
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