RE: Midrange Knowledge test

["Bob Cagle" <bcagle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have been an RPG programmer for 15+ years and I have never coded a
'program that loops endlessly without a compiler error' unless it was a
bug that was subsequently fixed!

Bob Cagle
IT Manager
Lynk, Inc.
913-492-9202 x41


-----Original Message-----
From: James Rich [mailto:james@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 4:29 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Midrange Knowledge test

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003, James H. H. Lampert wrote:

> Moving more tightly on-topic:
>
> To test a candidate's RPG knowledge, I would write a short RPG program
> that had neither a primary file, nor an explicit SETON LR statement,
nor
> an explicit return, and then ask the candidate to:

[snip]

> and 3. Modify the program so that it would loop endlessly, without a
> compiler error, and without using any explicit DO, DOWHILE, or DOUNTIL
> construct (answer: add a return statement or a SETON LR statement that
> can never actually be executed; that would satisfy the compiler, while
> leaving the endless Cycle loop intact).
>
> An exercise like this would weed out the people who took purely
academic
> RPG classes that never even mentioned the ability of an RPG program to
> take a free ride on the Cycle (even without a primary file).

I think this example would help you find people who write hard to debug
code and eliminate those that follow best practices.  The best hires
aren't necessarily the tricksters but rather those who write easy to
follow, correct code and get along with others.

Quite honestly, I think an English (or other human language) exam is a
better test of thinking skills than a programming exam.

James Rich

"As for security, being lectured by Microsoft is like receiving wise
words
on the subject of compassion from Stalin."
      -- mormop on lwn.net
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