Jython Phone Interview Advice

[c d saunter]

George Jempty (scriptify at yahoo.com) wrote:
: I'm undergoing a phone interview for a Jython job today.  Anybody have
: practical advice for me?  I haven't worked with Python in years, but I
: have been working with Java in the meantime (resume at
: http://scriptify.com/george_jempty_resume.pdf).  I've been reading up:
: my old "Quick Python" (Harris/McDonald) book, a somewhat more current
: "Visual Quickstart Guide" (Fehily), as well as "Jython for Java
: Programmers" (Bill) via safari.oreilly.com.

: My interviewer today will be a somewhat technical manager.  A key thing
: I plan to ask is will this be primarily maintenance or new development.
:  I don't think I'm cut out for new development considering my
: inexperience.

Not that I'm likely to be interviewing people for a long time (lowly PhD 
student :-) but if I were I'd be less concerned about a persons detailed 
knowledge of a language (esp. one like Python with relativly few gotchas 
and quirks) then their general competency at writing and managing code and 
working as part of a product group.  A good programer shouldn't have any 
serious problems adapting to a new language, so be ready to fo over some 
examples of your ability to switch / learn new languages.

Also, never be afraid to ask for clarification etc.  Worst thing ever in 
interviews can be getting the wrong end of the stick and following it, 
esp. if the people on the other end don't realise you're on the wrong 
track.

Take all the above with a (large) pinch of salt!

Cheers,
	Chris


: Some things I'm noticing upon (re)reading my books.  Triple quoted
: strings: those provide functionality similar to Perl's "here"
: documents.

: Also, considering Javascript will be a substantial component of my job,
: I'm noticing that Javascript's array/"hash" literal syntax is EXACTLY
: the same as that for Python lists/dictionaries.  This could lead to
: easily sharing data between the client and server side, though I think
: I should probably keep this one under my hat, at least with a manager.
: Though if things go well I will probably subsequently interview with
: more technical folks.

: Otherwise, the only thing I can think to tell a manager in a phone
: screen is that I'm willing to undergo brainbench.com's Python
: certification.

: Any advice would be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance