Common Interview Questions for Software Developers:
You have 2 supposedly unbreakable light bulbs and a 100-floor building. Using fewest possible drops, determine how much of an impact this type of light bulb can withstand. (i.e. it can withstand a drop from 17th floor, but breaks from the 18th).
Note that the ever-popular binary search will give you a worst case of 50 drops. You should be able to do it with under 20.
These are good questions and probably worth thinking about.
Stephen Ferg on What’s Wrong with Use Cases. He has some other papers on python and other programming topics. (Python cookbook site
Bruce Eckel on why he loves python: . Here’s the index of interviews with Guido. Is it possible to read too much about a programming language?
One problem is that once I start to get the hang of python, suddenly something big drops in my lap and I get distracted from it for weeks, if not months. And then I have to learn all over again. Programming is fun (if not frustrating), and I’m going to try to devote at least half a day to working on some mock python programs. Unfortunately, my job doesn’t use any of these skills at all, and when I come home, I am swamped with everything: working on my video project, working on fiction, watch a movie and read a book, try to do basic sys admin stuff, and then have to do all sorts of housework, calling friends and family, exercising, answering email and (this week) doing audio recording. This weekend, my priorities are (in order) finishing the slashdot book review, cleaning up as best as I can, doing car maintenance, researching a camera purchase, editing some manuscripts already on the web and configuring my web server (which has taken almost 3 months to get done, and should normally take a mere weekend) and playing around with python. Inevitably, I spend more time than expected on the Internet, more time surfing, more time watching mindless TV, more time sleeping, more time reading things I shouldn’t be reading. Last night, despite the accumulating list of chores, I refused; I lay in bed reading the Oreilly book on video production as well as Arnold Bennett’s Old Wives’ Tale (so simply written and so full of consolation for ordinary ambitions). Two things are noticeable about my apartment: 1)I have all sorts of literature everywhere which beckon, but never succeed in seducing me, 2)I have all sorts of crap on the ground, things I know I need to throw away or take action on or organize or figure out what needs to be done.