When someone applies to Pillar, we invite them to submit a code example that solves a particular problem. We review the code as an input early in the interview process.

It’s a helpful component of getting acquainted with a candidate, but a few things aren’t ideal:

• For any toy project, the domain is going to be trivial enough that it isn’t likely to be very representative of a larger “real” project
• As I review more and more submissions which solve the same handful of problems, I’m finding it harder to evaluate each with a fresh set of eyes
• Ultimately, the code doesn’t have any utility—its lifecycle ends as soon as it has been reviewed and discussed. This despite the fact that many candidates invest a significant amount of time writing it

Here’s an idea that might address those concerns: let’s start asking candidates to submit something useful instead.

And before you knew it…

Hypothetical: you find what seems to be the perfect prospective client. You’ve collaborated to develop an idea with the potential to realize outstanding value. They’ve decided they trust you to capitalize on the opportunity and achieve that value via some new software system.

*But!*

But the prospect makes a point to tell you they don’t want to be trained or changed (and that you can forget about “transformed”). They compensate by emphasizing that their only objective is to produce that set of value-creating widgets the two of you dreamed up in the (much cozier, in hindsight) first paragraph.

And before you knew it…

Ron Jeffries just posted a terrific case for clean code, and decoupled a recently-emerged “code can be too clean” meme from a question that has actual merit, “can we spend too much time making code clean?”

Upon discussing the post with Kevin Baribeau this evening, an anecdotal correlation was identified between folks who’ve said things akin to “code can be too clean” and folks who tend to succumb to the pressure to rush development of features.

Okay, I'm interested…

Over the last year, I’ve made an effort to better identify the styles, idioms, and smells I encounter when reading and writing new Java code. [And, already, a takeaway point! To some of my more successfully sheltered rubyist friends, it may be sorry news to hear that there continues to be new Java code written.]

In any case, I’ve made a concerted effort to internalize habits that I find valuable and to develop a reflex to resist those which I do not. This will be my first effort at documenting either, so I’ll just express them in terms of how my Java looks these days, replete with code snippets as needed.

You'll never guess what happens next…