How to get competent in computer science
Philip Johnson
Collaborative Software Development Laboratory
Information and Computer Sciences
University of Hawaii
Fall 2019
Competency isn't everything
Question:
What does
"CS competency" actually mean?
Answer:
Competency in ICS
Question:
What does
"CS competency"
actually mean
in the Real World?
Answer:
That depends upon what kind of job you want after graduation
My personal criteria for a "good" job
Involves innovation.
Involves software development.
Well paying.
Let's assume you want more than 2 out of 3:
Involves innovation.
Involves software development.
Well paying.
So, what does
"CS competency"
actually mean
in this Real World?
Cracking the Coding Interview
- Author is a software engineer who interviewed (and got offers from) Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Apple
- She did technical hiring at Google, Microsoft, Apple
- Based upon her experiences and hundreds of other contributors.
- She still codes daily
AFAIK, the most comprehensive, evidence-based perspective on how industry currently defines "competency in computer science"
Why should you care about how industry defines "competency in computer science"?
1.
Because you might want a (good) job in industry after you graduate.
2.
Because being competent means you can do more stuff.
Let's dispel
some myths
Myth:
Only a few companies test coding skills
Myth:
Whiteboard coding doesn't assess useful skills
Myth:
I can worry about this later
Myth:
CCI is just coding questions
Contents (Summary)
- The interview process: Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, Palantir, Startups
- A year-long preparation guide
- Behavioral vs. technical questions and answers
- The process of problem solving
- Big O
- Arrays and Strings
- Linked lists
- Stacks and Queues
- Trees and Graphs
- Bit manipulation
- OO Design
- Dynamic programming
- System design
- Sorting and searching
- Testing
- C & C++
- Java
- Databases
- Threads and Locks
How industry assesses competency
Why assess competency?
Example Problem
Hints!
More Examples
Life Hacks for CCI
CCI is too big & heavy
3 lbs
2" high
You don't need all of it all the time
Divide and Conquer
What to do now?
- Buy the book
- Refactor it into small, transportable modules
- Buy a notebook and a pencil
- Do one problem a day for six months
- Incorporate Preparation Map into your academic workload.
Start this in the semester you take ICS 311!