Garbage Collection
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No, it's not a programming question, but wasn't sure to either tag this as a joke or a rant :) I interviewed a programmer the other day... ME: "so what do you understand about garbage collection in .net?" CANDIDATE: (silence) "mmm.. yes. i read about that. it's something the compiler does to release objects" ME: :confused: "compiler?" CANDIDATE: "uhuh. for when you aren't referencing objects anymore" now my compiler apparently releases objects if they're not referenced anymore. pretty neat, eh? (sic) but i still don't understand. is the technical jargon we've created in the programming domain that mixed up (difficult) that we don't/can't say what we really mean...? or is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway. i mean, who cares, right? we all know what he really means ;P
<>< :: have the courage to use your own reason
Too many engineers these days know nothing but what was new in the last 5 years. Even Microsoft. I was working on joint project with them and the guty didnt kow the term 'run time' in terms of a distributed SDK.
Morality is indistinguishable from social proscription
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No, it's not a programming question, but wasn't sure to either tag this as a joke or a rant :) I interviewed a programmer the other day... ME: "so what do you understand about garbage collection in .net?" CANDIDATE: (silence) "mmm.. yes. i read about that. it's something the compiler does to release objects" ME: :confused: "compiler?" CANDIDATE: "uhuh. for when you aren't referencing objects anymore" now my compiler apparently releases objects if they're not referenced anymore. pretty neat, eh? (sic) but i still don't understand. is the technical jargon we've created in the programming domain that mixed up (difficult) that we don't/can't say what we really mean...? or is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway. i mean, who cares, right? we all know what he really means ;P
<>< :: have the courage to use your own reason
homegrown wrote:
is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway
Absolutely not. I'd also be asking him to explain how many compilers are actually involved in creating and executing a program. Just to drive the nail home. This stuff is Comp Sci 101. There's no excuse for not knowing it
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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No, it's not a programming question, but wasn't sure to either tag this as a joke or a rant :) I interviewed a programmer the other day... ME: "so what do you understand about garbage collection in .net?" CANDIDATE: (silence) "mmm.. yes. i read about that. it's something the compiler does to release objects" ME: :confused: "compiler?" CANDIDATE: "uhuh. for when you aren't referencing objects anymore" now my compiler apparently releases objects if they're not referenced anymore. pretty neat, eh? (sic) but i still don't understand. is the technical jargon we've created in the programming domain that mixed up (difficult) that we don't/can't say what we really mean...? or is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway. i mean, who cares, right? we all know what he really means ;P
<>< :: have the courage to use your own reason
Sounds like interview nerves. It's the old "I misspoke" defense.
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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homegrown wrote:
is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway
Absolutely not. I'd also be asking him to explain how many compilers are actually involved in creating and executing a program. Just to drive the nail home. This stuff is Comp Sci 101. There's no excuse for not knowing it
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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homegrown wrote:
is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway
Absolutely not. I'd also be asking him to explain how many compilers are actually involved in creating and executing a program. Just to drive the nail home. This stuff is Comp Sci 101. There's no excuse for not knowing it
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
I'd also be asking him to explain how many compilers are actually involved in creating and executing a program
Depends if it's PE or not. Then the question is "How many compilers are involved in creating and executing the compiler, and how fast?"
Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.
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No, it's not a programming question, but wasn't sure to either tag this as a joke or a rant :) I interviewed a programmer the other day... ME: "so what do you understand about garbage collection in .net?" CANDIDATE: (silence) "mmm.. yes. i read about that. it's something the compiler does to release objects" ME: :confused: "compiler?" CANDIDATE: "uhuh. for when you aren't referencing objects anymore" now my compiler apparently releases objects if they're not referenced anymore. pretty neat, eh? (sic) but i still don't understand. is the technical jargon we've created in the programming domain that mixed up (difficult) that we don't/can't say what we really mean...? or is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway. i mean, who cares, right? we all know what he really means ;P
<>< :: have the courage to use your own reason
Back in college days and in first semester, a teachers asked students a question. I thought I knew the answer, since I had readings before going to college. I remembered I answered but made a mistake like this guy. After my answer the teacher said: "your problem with computer is that you've learned it in an slangy manner that makes your information useless; in computer science you cannot go on like this". The first lesson stayed in my mind and at least I tried to change myself. At the end of the semester, I got the best mark of that class. Maybe such a teacher was the missing gem in that candidates life. My 2 cents.
// "In the end it's a little boy expressing himself." Yanni while (I_am_alive)
{
cout<<"I love to do more than just programming.";
} -
No, it's not a programming question, but wasn't sure to either tag this as a joke or a rant :) I interviewed a programmer the other day... ME: "so what do you understand about garbage collection in .net?" CANDIDATE: (silence) "mmm.. yes. i read about that. it's something the compiler does to release objects" ME: :confused: "compiler?" CANDIDATE: "uhuh. for when you aren't referencing objects anymore" now my compiler apparently releases objects if they're not referenced anymore. pretty neat, eh? (sic) but i still don't understand. is the technical jargon we've created in the programming domain that mixed up (difficult) that we don't/can't say what we really mean...? or is the difference between a compiler/linker/interpreter/runtime just semantics these days anyway. i mean, who cares, right? we all know what he really means ;P
<>< :: have the courage to use your own reason
The candidate answer is absolutely correct! The compiler “collects” your garbage code and assembled it in a crappy application. That’s why they call them “garbage collector”. I hope you hired the guy? It’s really strange that experience programmers like you guys don’t know such basic thinks. The next time I will talk about “smart pointers”. In a nutshell this is a mechanism which point your crappy program to some crappy libraries created from some other low qualified morons and this is the Linker job.
The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word.
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Back in college days and in first semester, a teachers asked students a question. I thought I knew the answer, since I had readings before going to college. I remembered I answered but made a mistake like this guy. After my answer the teacher said: "your problem with computer is that you've learned it in an slangy manner that makes your information useless; in computer science you cannot go on like this". The first lesson stayed in my mind and at least I tried to change myself. At the end of the semester, I got the best mark of that class. Maybe such a teacher was the missing gem in that candidates life. My 2 cents.
// "In the end it's a little boy expressing himself." Yanni while (I_am_alive)
{
cout<<"I love to do more than just programming.";
}Hamed Mosavi wrote:
your problem with computer is that you've learned it in an slangy manner
that's a pretty accurate assessment, methinks, and valuable insight. there does seem to be a lot of that, probably 'cos of the information overload (perceived or real?) that makes us summarise too quickly, and it will probably show up in code somewhere too- eventually. but i agree with you on one thing...
Hamed Mosavi wrote:
in computer science you cannot go on like this
also a great reminder to myself not to forget that either! ;)
<>< :: have the courage to use your own reason
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The candidate answer is absolutely correct! The compiler “collects” your garbage code and assembled it in a crappy application. That’s why they call them “garbage collector”. I hope you hired the guy? It’s really strange that experience programmers like you guys don’t know such basic thinks. The next time I will talk about “smart pointers”. In a nutshell this is a mechanism which point your crappy program to some crappy libraries created from some other low qualified morons and this is the Linker job.
The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word.
Hey, maybe you write article for all programmers like us that not understand these "smarty points"? Be would very helpfuly, plzzz?!
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog
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Hey, maybe you write article for all programmers like us that not understand these "smarty points"? Be would very helpfuly, plzzz?!
¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog
Article?!? I already published a whole book – “Very Smart Pointers and Smatter Logic” first edition. Unfortunately they publish it only in two copies – one for me and one for my psychiatrist. :sigh: But I could give you my copy.
The narrow specialist in the broad sense of the word is a complete idiot in the narrow sense of the word.