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Jack Diederich
jack_diederich at email.com
Tue Aug 27 17:45:30 EST 2002
> The community does need this, badly. Python itself needs this. I > recently did 20 interviews for the position of internet developer, and > not one person knew of python when I asked. I figure there are two > reasons for this: python sucks, or it doesn't have enough exposure. I don't think it is crucial to hire a developer who knows the language. If someone knows a few languages (one or more being OO) learning python just takes a month of reading your existing code base to learn reasonably, and a few months more in the group environment to master. Even in Boston with its largish perl community, a place I worked previously didn't discriminate on knowledge of perl. A good developer is a good developer (most of the people were C++ heavies first, perl second), they have to learn the ins and outs of the company's development environment & coding style anyway, a different language is just one aspect of that. (All things being equal, hire the guy who already knows python, but that isn't the most important thing.). If they can ace an interview in another language (or preferably a couple) then it is a good hire. If they are a jack of all trades [master of none: why does everyone forget that part of the phrase?] just say 'thank you for your time' and walk away. -jackdied ps, my first name being 'Jack' I get 'Jack of all trades' meant as a complement frequently. I've stopped taking offense becuase 99% of the people who say it are ignorant of the full phrase 'Jack [apprentice] of all trades, master of none' [http://www.bartleby.com/66/6/1706.html] pps, 'jackdied' is frequently my email/login on jobs, it is typically the shortest thing to type into MS exchange or similar to uniquely pull my name out of the employee database ('died' being the first 4 letters of my last name). Nothing morbid implied, just a good mnemonic. -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup
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