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From: dsill@NSWC-OAS.arpa (Dave Sill)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Weird C code as test for employment
Message-ID: <8634@brl-adm.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 5-Aug-87 20:29:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-adm.8634
Posted: Wed Aug  5 20:29:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Aug-87 06:39:26 EDT
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>It's true that testing someone's ability to read (and write) such
>monstrosities as Keller's test isn't testing for their ability to
>read and write readable code.

Agreed.  It tests one's ability to read that test.

>But it is a very good way to filter out
>people who are (1) a bit dense, or (2) don't have a good grasp of C.

I'm sure there are many people who are not dense and have a good grasp
of C which would fail that test.  Actually, Doug Gwyn was the only
one to point out the fact that *--*++cpp was wrong, so he's the only
one who's passed.

>I've worked with people who were slow, and it's a real pain, and this
>test would have surely eliminated them, as garlic does a vampire.

It's more like chopping down every apple tree in an orchard with at
least one bad apple to improve the crop.  Garlic, unlike this test,
affects all vampires, and only vampires.  Can you really say no good
programmers will fail this test and no bad programmers will pass?

-Dave Sill
 dsill@nswc-oas.arpa

The opinions expressed above are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Naval Surface Weapons Center.