Re:Ask HN: Poor Codility performance, am I a bad programmer?
by brudgers on Saturday January 30, 2016 @12:15PM
(#11002675)
What's a good programmer?
Relatively speaking, anyone who is good enough. On an absolute scale, maybe someone who makes reasonable attempts at exercises marked [43] in The Art of Computer Programming?
As Scott Hanselman says, "we are all amateurs." Becoming better at Codility challenges is mostly a matter of improving in the areas it tests...and I don't think that knowledge of Big(0) ever hurt anyone [inappropriate optimization for it is another matter].
Stepping out of the comfort zone on a whim and finding an area of weakness certainly has given me perspective on my knowledge, skills and abilities. Sure rejection and failure kind of suck, but for me self delusion is worse over the long term because that's how I came to be surprised by my weaknesses. Anyway, it's just a job and there's almost certainly better jobs out there.
Relatively speaking, anyone who is good enough. On an absolute scale, maybe someone who makes reasonable attempts at exercises marked [43] in The Art of Computer Programming?
As Scott Hanselman says, "we are all amateurs." Becoming better at Codility challenges is mostly a matter of improving in the areas it tests...and I don't think that knowledge of Big(0) ever hurt anyone [inappropriate optimization for it is another matter].
Stepping out of the comfort zone on a whim and finding an area of weakness certainly has given me perspective on my knowledge, skills and abilities. Sure rejection and failure kind of suck, but for me self delusion is worse over the long term because that's how I came to be surprised by my weaknesses. Anyway, it's just a job and there's almost certainly better jobs out there.
Good luck.