You came to an interview for “PHP Developer” and you said you dont know the name “Rasmus Lerdorf”.
You’ve used MySQL for a long time and didn’t even hear about “Michael Monty”
and though “jQuery” is your “favorite JS framework” for a long time, but “John Resig, who is he?”
shame on you
The reason behind writing this blog post is I’ve interviewed some candidates recently and They dont know the name of the developers of PHP, MySQL or almost any other libraries they make their living on. They dont even know the history of these tools (History might be too much and I surely am not a Jerk, but I want them to know the name of the developer behind this)
I don’t take my time to show them the door, I am pissed off.
The Storyteller 
Is it realy so important? World is full of people 🙂 Keep working 🙂
Just playing devil’s advocate here:
I don’t know the name of the guy who invented the internal combustion engine. That doesn’t mean I’m not a damn good driver.
I don’t know who invented the toaster oven but I can still make some damn good toast.
I don’t know who invented fire, but that doesn’t mean I can’t utilize it to my advantage.
I agree with Mark here, and examples can go on and on. The most important thing is to know how to use the tool, everything else comes way behind.
Knowing the inventor of tools means being interested in a) people and b) history. Something not every developer is.
@All
Sometimes, may be it doesn’t matter to some of you, but I find it’s not right to not knowing the name of the developer of a language on which, I make my living.
It feels good knowing the name of the developers to me. Gadgets, like telephone I must know that G.Bell was behind it, but if you ask me who’s behind “Toaster”, i would like to stay its not that much revolutionary compared to “telephone”.
I code a “language” for years and I dont know who was the mastermind behind it, I think it’s silly. Not knowing their name also make me miss some of their other excellent articles and products (Look at Resig’s blog for example)
I may sound a bit jerky though, but I am ok with it 🙂 – I dont need devs who doesn’t know the creator of his language, chances are higher he wont know the name of the man behind his company.
Just my personal opinion.
Like you said, it’s just your personal opinion, with no basis in fact. You’ve got nothing to back up this feeling with.
I’m going to totally disagree with you. I use way too many tools to know the developer behind each product. If I were to interview with you, I don’t think I’d wait for you to show me the door. I would be right on my way out after asking such a stupid question.
@Brain
Its alright, I am fine if you find the door yourself 😉
But why dont you find the reason behind this?
I know who Rasmus Leerdorf is, but the rest… names don’t mean much… but knowing the basic history behind the tools you use is a good idea.
@Mark: I think some of your examples are flawed. I don’t know who invented the internal combustion engine but if I was in the business of building cars I would like to think that I did. I don’t think anyone knows who invented fire so I don’t really think that’s a fair comparison.
@gasper_k: Although I agree that knowing how to use a language or tool is more important than knowing who created it I think it is worth remembering that these languages and tools are still under development. Knowing the people behind them is likely to be a moderately reliable indicator of an individuals interest in the language or tools future.
Personally I’d pass this little test for PHP and JQuery (even though I don’t currently use it) but fail for MySQL.
Sorry but kicking someone out because he doesn’t know the name of rasmus or monty is just plain dumb.
I am not diregarding their effort in PHP or MySQL but come on… Nowadays there are a bunch of people that are much more important for PHP than Rasmus. Seriously. Who cares who invented something. You should know the names of the people currently doing the work.
Reading the comments it seems that most people here missed the point. If you don’t know who Rasmus Lerdorf or Michael Wildenius are, it shows that you are not familiar with their work, you haven’t read their articles or attended their talks in conferences. Too bad, because they’re among the top experts in the field you’re applying for. So basically, if you don’t know those names, who are your sources of information? You can’t pretend knowing jQuery if you have never heard of John Resig.
O.K. — Please list all contributors to the Oracle query optimizer, then.
Knowing the tools(on which I’m an expert) inventor and its history is always good and showing my feelings on that tools. Specially in programming language.
I’ve been programming php as a professional since php 3 and mysql since the early dooms of 4 in betas.
I yet to still know any of the developer names for both php or mysql. As far as jQuery, i know of John only because of his website ejohn, else who is he again? Heh.
Not everyone is good with names. Just a thought to ponder on. Their lack for knowing programming politics is your lack for dismissing talented programmers.
@Jonathan
My point was to illustrate the ubiquity of PHP, MySQL, etc. They’re so commonplace and widely used that you can’t expect everyone who uses the tools to know who created them.
@me
I am still learning about PHP and other tools. I am learning every single day. as I am still novice in PHP thats why i don’t feel any importance of special effort to learn about history. But i learn about history only if i find something in front of me like this blog or from preface of any book etc. I thing special effort on history suits those people who thinks they have learned everything and have nothing to learn.
and for interview I personally think it is not the efficient process to judge a person with in 30-40min.
anyway this is just my personal opinion.
@Mark: Although I accept that not everyone using, for instance, PHP will know the name of the person behind the language it could still be a useful indicator as to who you would want to employ. The intention isn’t to separate PHP developers from non-PHP developers but the very good PHP developers from the not quite so good.
Having said this there is going to be massive variation. Some people are terrible at names. Others may focus their community involvement in other areas. Different people will have differing access to conferences, user groups etc. Knowing the creator of a language or tool clearly isn’t enough to base a hiring decision on but I think it is a question that has a place in an interview.
@uzzal:”I thing special effort on history suits those people who thinks they have learned everything and have nothing to learn.”
Wow. I couldn’t disagree more strongly with that statement. I appreciate that a history lesson isn’t going to be how anyone starts learning PHP but it can be useful at an intermediate level. Knowing how a language or tool has evolved helps you to understand why those quaint/infuriating ‘design decisions’ came about. I believe that means less time consulting the manual and, if only slightly, better code. I’m not talking about every inane detail history just a basic understanding of the timeline.
@Lolcroud
Exactly, thats the point. You must know the name of these living legends (None of the people mentioned above are dead yet, and they are working still on these projects). How an educational research projects turns into todays PHP, or the naming behind MySQL, are charming and inspiring.
Most of you got the wrong point thinking these as a sure fire way of interview. But you didnt understand that knowing these people (or having a tendency) will likely make you a knowledgeable one. You will find their blog, their works, forums that they are involved into and also the people from their network and so on.
What the hell wrong with that? If it ultimately comes as a plus for you, why dont you know them?
@Mark IL
Well, yeah, I know the name of Larry Ellison and the work of Wez Furlong too, but not name of the people under every desk of Oracle Corporation. 😉
Just. Too. Funny.
Do you know how many people wrote your OS’s code? Could you name 0.1% of them?
@tom
LOL, did I sound like a name-o-maniac 😀 – I didnt say “name” of the author of every single line. I just meant only the masterminds.
But hell yeah, I atleast know some of them who wrote the kernel, And some of my primary OS, which is definitely not the Bill Gate’s one 😉
It is good to know, but not necessary; surely it should not be used as a scale to hire someone. But as Hasin mentioned, it is his personal opinion and he is free to take decision for the place he is in charge of. 🙂 Peace!
I totally agree with Hasin, I will not tolerate someone in my team who is not passionate enough. And its kind of a sign of passion that you are obsessed to know even the histories and legends of your favorite tool.
But I don’t expect people to know about the creators of MySQL(no offence, its a great tool, but I am not interested enough). I think people are more inclined to get passionate about languages rather than DBMS.
I fail in all the three questions 😦 . Anyways, Humble Programmer is the best of kind, so I am not ashamed, I know I will learn. Hasin, don’t show me the door.
@Ehsan
Bro, “showing the door” is a hypothetical reaction – LOL – never practiced in actual. heh heh
And when a candidate can’t answer these, there is chances that my mood will change during this interview and I will try to understand why did it never interests him to get those names.
Thanks for dropping by
Are we not forgetting what decade this is? If you want to know something, GOOGLE IT. It’ll take seriously less than 3 seconds to find the answer.
I’m not going to fill my head with memorizing developer names when I can fill it with things that will benefit me, like how to CODE in the langauge.
If for some reason I need to know who created PHP, I’ll look it up faster than you can ask the question.
If someone won’t hire me because I am a computer scientist and not a historian, that I am pretty sure I don’t want to work for them anyway.
Plus, the best jobs are when you’re working for someone who doesn’t know what PHP is anyway 😛
If you use PHP then you should know everyone who worked or is working on the project, contribute to all our wish lists, and email us all every day with thank you letters. And name your third child Rasmus.
I think if you expect people to know the inventors and developers of the tools people are using for the job for which they are interviewing then it should be listed clearly in the requirements. People don’t get jobs by guessing what they’re supposed to know to perform their job well.
If anything, knowing that information should be a plus that’s weighted very lightly compared to how well someone knows how to use the tool.
Hmmm.
You know, about the most used language by every programmer everywhere is English.
Anyone know the name of the person who invented English?
Honestly, you want to kick people out of an interview because they don’t know the name of the person who wrote their language? Kick yourself out first, because there is no mainstream language out there that has not seen work by a whole team of people.
@Mark Dennehy
Just had a look at your blog, you are also a java dev, right – do you know the name “James Gosling”? do you??
LOL
If you dont, i wont mind to kick you out – that’s the point of this article. But if you dont know the one behind JavaFX, I wont care.
Kicking someone out/Showing the door is a hypothetical reaction of not knowing the answer, you got me?
what’s php?
Names of php core developers are all around. If you read about best practices in the www, you’ll read the one or other name. Every good teacher will you tell about history of the subject.
Of course the question is what a developer you want/need. If you need a code donk for crappy/underpaid/mini projects take the second best. If you do serious large projects “that may use this class stuff to bundle functions” be picky.
As of the latter: If a php developer can’t name anyone of the php “celebs”, i’d kick him into space. If he’s new to php and expert in another language or has a it degree. You have, of course, to alter the questions.
Experts know experts.
I don’t know those guys.
Who cares who invented something…
It’s important how to use it.
I like math, knowing who find what formula doesn’t make me better at math instantly.
well, its clear hasin the guru wants programmers to be passionated. And @Jeremy that cant be done by publishing requirements(you must know who Rasmus Lerdorf is. Rather the job requirement can be… `You must be passionated on using the tools you use`
If you dont know the name of Rasmus Lerdorf but a great developer for years, its a shame for you. But at the same time hasin bro shouldnt just kick out for that reason. Definitely it creates a bad impression on someone and clears out that you are less of a passionated programmer.
@gavin you just google it and seems like you dont code anything on your own.. cuz u have google at your side… you just dont need to re-invent the wheel so…. just GOOGLE it and copy paste.. delete all comments by author.. forget who wrote .. dont need to learn the algorithm behind… just be sure it fits in place and working… if its not working debug the code… or fire it.. get a new CODE just by GOOOOGLE!!! so simple isnt it? Gavin you really made me laugh hahahahahaha
@mgccl you need to remember pythagorus, euclid dont act dumb or are you from DumboLand?
No one is dumb just because he does not know any name. I think it is a learning process. After years in job you need to come around with lots of people and making enemies is probably not smart. Better put a smile on your face! There’re lots of talented people out there!
Perhaps Hasin should interview an IT historian. It is silly to kick someone out for not knowing history.
I use a pen everyday, great invention…who created it? who cares!…You work at Trippert..who was the first explorer? I mean you *must* know this stuff..since you work with it right????
Hasin, get real, you’re not the right person to interview anyone.
If you refuse any good developers that don’t know these names, please send them my way. 🙂
It’s hard enough to find good PHP developers these days. Requiring knowledge and skills that do not add to their productivity and programming skills in any way would only make that harder.
Who’s the master behind Zephyr Ajax Framework and Orchid PHP Framework? 😀
Comments pore khub moja pailam. 🙂 Onekdin erokom fight dekhi nai..
@PHPlamer: I believe you misread me. I’m saying that I am going to Google information like the names of developers.
Your accusation about stealing code seems pretty specific – got something on your conscience?
Shouldn’t really matter that much if he /she is a very good and efficient developer.
Whether a ‘Toaster’ is a good/ revolutionary gadget depends on the context it’s being used in. In Bangladesh, toasted bread itself is not hugely popular in breakfasts.
fake
😀
Do you know who invented wheels? if you don’t, will you stop riding right away?
@nur
Yes, fortunately I know – his name is
“Mr . I-dont-know-if-I-invented-the-wheel” – It was invented in 33K B.C.
you bet?
LOL
@gavinblair : your idea about googling that, makes me foresee a Possible incident. You are at the interview board and Hasin bro asked, `Do you know who was the legendary mastermind behind PHP? Ever visited his own blog?` You seemed astonished by the question cuz you never expected. Now under the table you trying to google on PHP`s creator hiding it from Hasin bro. 😀 🙂
@GavinBlair: oops forgot to tell, you had a PDA on your hand or a glass(specktacles) like gadget which is almost a computer with internet connection. You used that to pass your exams and you almost scored Top! 😉 😛 😀 :))
ONEEEEEEEEEEEk MOJA PAISI.
JOTIL.
When we will see the episode number 2 of this post.
3 of my best friends are working for ZEND.. and they dont know who is this!
it doesnt matter if you know them or not!
the people u interviewed might knowing the jQuery but they implemented something much better!
if u ask me whos bush? my answer will be is he the damin taxi driver who stole my wallet?! who cares about bush! as long as they can live without knowing him!
u really made me sick of this post 😦
@Amr Hourani…. now answer me.. Do you like PHP? Have you ever read any article by Rasmus Lerdorf?
Its not very clear why would you just refuse to know them, making excuses. Tell your friends` names who work in Zend.
Share us which better framework you know compared to jQuery.
I did not know the names or works before reading hasin bros this post. But when I know about them I am more enthusiastic to know more about them. What holds you from knowing them? Of course there can be really good developers who never cared or knew the masterminds behind the technology they use. But when they come to know they`ll feel like yes I missed something. Its all about passion and obsession. After knowing their names if you never try to visit their webs know more about them. Then either you are not into this technology or you have lack of passion. Then dont waste time posting more comments any further.
I write on paper – I sell my writings. don’t know who is the inventor of ‘paper’. will you throw me a writer?
I use a laptop – and I don’t know who is the inventor of — so will you take away my laptop from me?
Kick the ass of all who are selling television without knowing name of its inventor!
@Borhan
Suppose you love a girl, then would you stop only seeing her face? (I don’t know what you would do) but for me i will try to collect more info about her (as i love her) like what is her name, what she do, where she lives, who is his parents, what her parents do, does she has any brothers or sisters, what she likes, or dislikes, etc… etc… as far i can collect. That doesn’t mean i should must know her grand-grand-father’s name….
so any one who is doing PHP and don’t have feelings about to know who is the father of PHP how could you say he loves his job most. If he don’t have feelings about the background of his fav job then definitely that job is not his fav (at least he loves his job less then who has feelings about the background of that job) and he doing THAT job only for LIVING. and any one who don’t feels passion+love for his job how could you say he is the best FIT on that Job.
I personally think programming job just like an art. Can you show me a single example of any great artist who dislike his art job…..????
@hasin vai,
Human brain not works like harddisk. Data can be lost very easily or sometimes we face trouble for retrieving data from it. I think most people who read about the names of those great persons but can’t memories (those name’s spellings are so easy all times). You can’t fire anyone for his humanly weakness.
Just think about Rasmus Lerdorf’s mother, may be she don’t know why her son is so great. But he never forget her son’s name. There are many names we know but we don’t know why they are so great. and there are many great works done but we don’t know who is the mastermind for that.
CORRECTION: those name’s spellings are not so easy all times 😛
Believe me. I am terrible at memorizing names. I forgot most of my intimate classmates in primary school. I cannot even remember my cousin’s baby.
And that’s why I could barely pass social science subjects in school. I use many tools that I cannot live without. Although I salute the people behind those tools. I DO NOT need to or want to remember their names.
If you don’t hire me. It’s OK. I don’t give you a damn…
I’ve been developing for a long time.
I’m always interested in learning who’s behind a some new tool/language I’m learning.
Almost all the programming books dedicate the initial chapters on the history of a language. chances are people who don’t care about the history of their tools, are likely to ignore future developments.
I think the jist may be it’s good to know the names but it’s not mendatory 😛
But what if you forgot the names frequently specially those hard foreign names. I hard of Rasmus Lerdorf, when I first start reading the PHP manual 4 years back. I read the history of PHP, MySQL. Even few month back I learned of Rasmus Lerdorf and history of MySQL in wikipedia. Then I forgot most of them. Few days back I added blogs of some of them now I can remember them clearly.
man … this place is now battlefield… forth world war .. 😀
its just that I could gain a lot of knowledge from this war .. so this is a constructive world war … unlike the other 3 .. 😀
by the way .. who knows the name of the person who invented world war … lolz … just kidding 😀
Lame!
I’m very bad on memorizing. Even I read their articles, but If you ask me suddenly, definitely I’ll give you the wrong answer 🙂 … So, the conclusion is, I’m not eligible for your job 😉
In my opinion it is good to know their names & a little bit about the history. But, it shouldn’t be the key to measure someone.
But, If I go for an interview then I’ll sure try to memorize these things 😉
Don’t tell me you are not joking ?
I’ve discovered that the experts at something know their field backwards and forwards. All the very good street photographers know who Cartier-Bresson was. The best landscape photographers know of Adams’ work.
People who are passionate about PHP tend to know who Rasmus Lerdorf is or have heard of Andi Gutmans or Zeev Suraksi. It’s not a case of “if you don’t know these names, then I won’t hire you” but more a case of “if you’re passionate enough, then you already know them”
I don’t want “day job” coders.
For what it’s worth, I’ve barely heard of Monty, and I suck at MySQL optimisation 🙂
Regards,
Rob…
HI CAN YOU GIVE ME ebook for preparation ZEND CERTIFICATION…
thanks in advance.
@Hasin: I never thought of this question ever before. Well, sure, it should be important that a dev knows some of the history behind the technology he or she is using. I myself know some of the masterminds and like to read their blogs and articles. I believe it’s quite exciting these days when you know a good developer and his work, and some hours later you read his genius article and know you are supporting him in a creative way: using his tools, writing in his language, enhancing stuff etc…
I would not say it’s very important for an interview, but it sure tells the interviewer that the person in front of him know his stuff and is passionate about it. That should ALWAYS be a PLUS!!!
Seems like an extra credit question to me. Knowing the creators of the tools indicates a level of passion, but not necessarily a level of proficiency. I’d focus on finding the person who is the most passionate about writing well structured code and then maybe use any extra knowledge as a means to tip the balance in favor of one individual over another.
I guess when interviewing many talented people, you need SOME excuse for a filter. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get a job that I just applied for today because I didn’t answer the “What do you do in your free time” question right.
My guess is that the people you filtered out (who didn’t know the founder of PHP, etc) wouldn’t want to work for you anyway.
I feel bad for anyone unlucky enough to work for this guy. Elitism is the residue of open source, unfortunately.
P.S. It’s shame ON you. Good thing no one has ever decided to not hire you over that, huh.
This is competely stupid and in Australia is a violation of equal opportunity law.
I have interviewed 100’s of php developers, and make judgments on there ability to PROGRAM and understand generic PROGRAMMING concepts via targeted questions that test the bounds of there knowledge.
A mechanic is required to know how an engine WORKS, and to approach problems to make it WORK, not recall the entire list of engineer’s who designed each of his tools or engine components.
In fact, The only people I have found that can rattle of a list of industry names and the latest industry buzz words without rolling their eyes and adding “How is that relevant?” have limited real world ability.
@Sarah N
Thanks for the eagles eye 🙂
@omi bhai : sorry for the lame joke .. 😦
@hasib bhai : could you realize one thing, by just posting one posting about the master minds and pioneers, inventors of PHP, MySQL etc.. you could actually let a lot of people know their names, the ones who didnt know them started knowing them.. hasin bhai you are a powerful man 😀 .. you could technically teach a lotsa developers bout PHP’s history .. 😀 .. hats off to you for that .
it would be shame if a bangaldeshi php developer doesnt know the name of hasin haider (along with other great developers) and his works and contributions to PHP, then i think i m gonna kick him out of the door as well. way to go hasin bhai 🙂
Hi, Hasin
Do you know who discovered oxygen and the story behind this? you have been taking this since ur birth
I partially agree with this one… This is one of those “passion” questions… For me, i would probably ask if he has a blog OR what blogs does he read, etc. etc. Hehe… And oh, I failed number 2 and number 3 😛
I thought Open Source is about ‘we’/’us’, not ‘I’/’you’.
In the OSS world, many new ideas come frequently but only those can stay which are supported by the community. PHP could not come this far if only Rasmus developed it alone! Same goes for MySQL, Python, Ruby or whatever.
Please raise the voice for a Bangladeshi Bloggers Community. I’ve recently read a post on this issue. I think it would be great if all of us raise our voice for it.
To read the post please visit the LINK
I do agree that knowing the names of inventor/indicator/architect behind a tool is great, but I wouldn’t adjudicate a person’s passion only by this criteria, in fact I would rather motivate that person to know about them and draw inspiration. What I feel is more important to find out how and towards what has that person diverted that passion towards.
Personally speaking I won’t mind if anybody did not know the names of tools/libs I authored :). I also agree with Nasim bhai’s statement about OSS.
I only know Rasmus Leerdorf but the funny thing is that I first found out about him from his work hacking the Compaq IA-1! If you were to mention his name I probably wouldn’t guess it right away unless I read it. I’m not a fanboy about PHP but I do read everything and anything there is about it. Also Rasmus is not out there on the blogs and forums as much as some of the Zend employees are who’s names I can spot. This is a poor way to judge a new hire.
This can’t be the right idea behind judging a probable candidate … … …
No way………………………..
What a debate!
BTW hasin, what the salary range was ?
If that’s higher one [Ok, compare BD rate 😉 ], may be you are right, pick only passionate one. Otherwise, don’t be silly …
That much anger not good for coding!! LOL
Thanks Allah, I love to read history… 😀
Hasin! what you don’t know who invented transistor, CPU, packet switching or even mouse? You are user of these technology for long.
Shame on you
A little quote from Rasmus himself on hiring PHP developers –
“PHP is not a new language. It doesn’t introduce any new concepts. This means that training programmers who already know any C, C++, Perl, or even Java to write PHP code is quite easy. I tend to look for people with C or C++ skills when I go looking for PHP developers for a project, the thinking being that you are much better off hiring experienced programmers than you would be if you hired someone who necessarily knows a lot about PHP. If they can handle those languages, PHP will be trivial for them. Of course, if they have experience with both, so much the better.”
– from one of his famous article, “Do You PHP?”
I think that your desire to work only with equally impassioned designers is well intentioned but poorly executed, Hasan.
Expecting an appreciate for sources of knowledge and a deeper appreciation of tools and materials is fine, but that sort of understanding doesn’t necessarily lie in simply knowing who made what tool. Indeed, some might argue that it is little more than stamp collecting.
As a designer, I select and employ typefaces every day with the same level of thought and dedication that you apparently expect from your fellow programmers, yet I don’t know who originally designed most of those typefaces. I feel pretty slick just for being able to actually name a good number of those typefaces. Nonetheless, I don’t kid myself about that sort of mechanical recall having anything to do with my sensitivity to the design decisions I am making regarding type.
I hope that what you are saying hear is more of an attempt to reveal your credo than your actual practice. If you have indeed routinely “shown the door” to would-be collaborators and colleagues who might otherwise inform and challenge your own aesthetic growth for so misplaced a reason, I can assure you that you have done yourself more harm than them.
Believe me, I can develop a very good wordpress plugin and I don’t know who is the creator of wordpress.
I can develop high end ajax application, and also don’t know who is creator of this.
In interview, I never ask similar question and judge them. I’m not sure weather you can get the real qualified developer with such a kind of unrelated question
“I dont need devs who doesn’t know the creator of his language, chances are higher he wont know the name of the man behind his company.”
or she. 😀
I personally like to know about the personality behind the creator of a language, for example, I like knowing and being able to attribute this quote: “You will be miserable until you learn the difference between scalar and list context…”
to Larry Wall.
But I wouldnt use it as a basis to hire someone I dont think.
I would tell you to go fuck your self 🙂
Who invented the popcorn maker what you don’t know ? Go fuck yourself, nobody needs to know who invented shit .
If they can do the job they are more than qualified, now, go fuck yourself fuck face.
hasin, bell was the first to patent the telephone but the inventor is disputed.
anyways, if you’re going to be a stickler over such a non-issue, you’ve probably done all those former candidates a favor by not hiring them.
i just looked at your resume. your fucking phone number is +880-161-phpguru? bwahahaha
look lowell, i seriously dont care about what you think. my recruiting decision is mine. it may sound hard or assholic, but unfortunately its as is.
and you have noticed my number, right? you have noticed that there is a meaningful word in my phone number – no matter whether it’s ‘phpguru’ or ‘asshole’ it will help people to recall my number easily. give me a call when you are free, not between my 7PM to 3AM and I am GMT+6 fyki.
see ya.
I do not agree with Hasin vai.
From my childhood, I have used lots of things. From video games to train. Was anything less important than PHP or MySQL? Or is my Cell Phone not that important? Or the medicines that saved my life last time when I was very sick?
Or the bank currency that I am using everyday?
I cannot see anything without my glasses from class nine. Are my glasses less important than PHP or MySQL?
I do not know who invented glasses or bank currency or the medicines.
And I did not and will never feel bad for that.
Please do not take it personally.
To me, there is is no single person behind any invention. Behind PHP or MySQL of course there was a team. Alas! We make the team lead angel and forget the rest!
Bill Gates of Microsoft is the global hero. But the most brilliant people from all over the world who worked for Microsoft will not even get a line in the History book. Their names will never come light.
That is the real shame!
@Tanzilo
thanks for commenting and I partially agree on you. you got the point of what i was trying to say (though you didnt agree with me literally), heh heh, if someone dont even know bill gates, then how would you expect that he will know “steve ballmer” or “paul allen” – you bet?
if you dont know anyone of the team, the leading one in most cases, i assume that you dont know anyone of the rest. but if you know that one, chances are higher that you know others from the team 🙂
hope i made you leaning towards my view 🙂
I think it’s a decent indicator of how passionate a candidate is about their skills when they display general knowledge in their field. Of course it doesn’t make you a uber developer if you know these types of things, but interviewers use all kinds of tools to find the cream of the crop.
Would you be insulted by all the brain teasers that Microsoft and Google use in their interviews just because you don’t “get it”? A lot of the puzzles show how much you really understand certain topics like searching and sorting, but at first glance most people would pass it off as being elitist.
And if you’re a developer and have ever read an article or book on your craft, you’re bound to come across the names of Lerdorf, Widenius, Resig, etc. Or at least before going to an interview make sure you figure it out by the time your interview starts. If anything it’ll help, not hurt your case.
By the way, anyone else read the rumors of Widenius’s resignation from Sun? Oh wait, you guys do know that Sun bought out MySQL right? LOL.
@ Hasin Vai
You said – If I know Bill Gates, chances are higher that I know others in the team like “steve ballmer” or “paul allen”.
Not really. We believe in reality not in chances.
Chances occur rarely. If it is that why you want to bet?
But in reality, people do not know the name of the inventor and this is a worldwide trend.
My room is full of lots of things and I love most of them.
But I do not know who invented them.
May be I am a bad guy.
🙂
I read thousands of books in my life.
But still I do not know who invented printing machine.
Again no bad feeling for that.
PHP MySQL may give me a living. But the books gave me more than a living.
🙂
And again “Bill Gates”, “steve ballmer” or “paul allen” are the heros.
You are forgetting the most brilliant people who made Microsoft products in reality (and their names will never be known by you and me).
Why do you love super successful people so much?
I think I know.
Because you are a super successful person yourself.
May be you get a psychological match.
At your age, very few people in Bangladesh can imagine to achieve all the things that you have already achieved.
Do I sound real rather than on chances?
🙂
Although I’m late, I think I should say something.
@Hasin bhai: suppose a problem is given to two guyz Mr. A and Mr. B to solve. Mr. A knows a lot about PHP and it’s history. Mr. B doesn’t know much about PHP but he’s creative, good at algorithms, a good problem solver, and analytically very much skilled. The problem is: they have to implement an approximate string search module by PHP. Mr. A can’t do it, he’ll be googling to find some readymade thing or framework but unfortunately he didn’t find (say). Now since Mr. B is a good problem solver and good at algorithms he’ll go to implement his own thing by Edit Distance or other kinda fuzzy string matching algorithms. Now who saved you? Mr. A or Mr. B? Ofcourse Mr. B. Mr. B doesn’t know who the inventor of PHP is and he actually doesn’t need to, but he can know it easily within no time from the internet or other source. But Mr. A can’t do the things that Mr. B can.
I think interviewing criteria should not be like that what you follow. One should be judged by his analytical ability, problem solving capability, knowledge of core CS things. Other things are subject to be learned through working in practical fields. Sorry if I hurt you anyway.
Hello Hasin Bhy
u dont know me. But i come to u a problem. Pls help me or show me the way. Now i worked in bangabhaban automation project. I use cakephp1.2 for website. And i have to convert the site in bangla version. I dont know what can i do now. Pls help me.
thanks
Rajib
Looks like we know Hasin vai. So we have to know who his father is.
and As you know Hasin vai so don’t forget to search / googled about Hasin vai’s grandfather name. Because I’m pretty sure, one day his son ( aka little Einstein 🙂 ) can ask or may even charge you who is my father’s fahter x-( ?