Competency in CS
Philip Johnson
Collaborative Software Development Laboratory
Information in Computer Sciences
ICS 690
Fall 2019
(Please pair off and get out paper and pencil.)
Competency isn't everything
Question:
What does
"CS competency" actually mean?
Answer:
CS Competency in ICS (M.S.)
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?
Author Intro:
Gayle McDowell
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 an academic job might not be available to you after you graduate.
3.
Because being competent means you can do more stuff.
Let's dispel
some myths
Myth:
Coding is for undergrads
Myth:
Only a few companies test coding skills
Myth:
Researchers (Ph.D.s) don't need to code
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?
Group Work
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
Action Items
- 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.