Comments on: Building the perfect coder We've set up a facebook group for the course for anyone else who is interested... <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_150365151697676" rel="nofollow"></a> "Goldsmiths MSc - computer games and entertainment" We’ve set up a facebook group for the course for anyone else who is interested…

“Goldsmiths MSc – computer games and entertainment”

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By: @Fwznssr/2011/04/05/building-the-perfect-coder/#comment-2952 @Fwznssr Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:14:37 +0000 It will be inspirational for the students no matter how it plays out. We are doing the same with our students at the moment, mostly looking for internships for the final project. It sounds like you have the right idea as they will want to ask questions. It is quite handy to have some user feedback on your projects also, free testing can be a bonus. In my Sony job we had some interns from Sheffield Hallam who proved to be very useful. A number are still with us such as Alex who works on the Razor project. I found that I have learned far more than I have taught from the course. You have to know your stuff to teach at this level, especially as the students are highly motivated. Good luck tomorrow. Andy. It will be inspirational for the students no matter how it plays out.

We are doing the same with our students at the moment, mostly looking for
internships for the final project. It sounds like you have the right idea as they
will want to ask questions. It is quite handy to have some user feedback
on your projects also, free testing can be a bonus.

In my Sony job we had some interns from Sheffield Hallam who proved to
be very useful. A number are still with us such as Alex who works on the Razor
project.

I found that I have learned far more than I have taught from the course. You have to
know your stuff to teach at this level, especially as the students are highly
motivated.

Good luck tomorrow.

Andy.

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By: @Fwznssr/2011/04/05/building-the-perfect-coder/#comment-2925 @Fwznssr Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:28:07 +0000 I am careful to avoid any explicit examples! There is no problem with exotic programming languages and linear algebra per se, there is a place for this in the world. We feel the need to predict the weather and make bankers richer. For games, however, and many other fields of computational endeavour, the lingua franca is definitely C++. I am teaching a Java course next year to second year students, but Java is fairly easilly adapted to C++ and is increasingly used in games that are not performance critical. I am careful to avoid any explicit examples!

There is no problem with exotic programming languages and linear algebra per se, there is a place
for this in the world. We feel the need to predict the weather and make bankers richer.

For games, however, and many other fields of computational endeavour, the lingua franca
is definitely C++.

I am teaching a Java course next year to second year students, but Java is fairly easilly
adapted to C++ and is increasingly used in games that are not performance critical.

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By: Promit Roy/2011/04/05/building-the-perfect-coder/#comment-2464 Promit Roy Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:32:35 +0000 You are quite right - most of our students expect to have quite diverse roles. AI programming is a popular option and some are even keen on interfaces and menus. We have a couple of artists who are learning programming and a couple of guys who would probably do best in management roles. We do have a few low-level engineers interested in rendering and sound. Last year we had a few students with internships in mobile development which requires a broader range of skills in much smaller teams and we have emphasised iPhone and Android this year. You are quite right – most of our students expect to have quite diverse roles.

AI programming is a popular option and some are even keen on interfaces and menus.
We have a couple of artists who are learning programming and a couple of guys
who would probably do best in management roles.

We do have a few low-level engineers interested in rendering and sound.

Last year we had a few students with internships in mobile development which requires
a broader range of skills in much smaller teams and we have emphasised
iPhone and Android this year.

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By: M/2011/04/05/building-the-perfect-coder/#comment-2391 M Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:22:48 +0000 I've experienced quite a few different aproaches to interviewing from informal chats and problem solving to much more formal affairs with interviews with six or seven people sequentially throughout the day. This is usually on top of an eight hour timezone shift! Some studios have quite formal exams, but usually only basic-level maths problems such as solving similtaneous equations or calculating interception times. Another time I was asked to implement a double-linked list task with a few restrictions but I probably went over the top and wrote a unit test also. My friend Henrik at Psygnosis had a test involving matrix stacks and moving from frame to frame and we still use a Psygnosis linked list test ourselves as it demonstrates multi-level thinking and refinement of solutions. It would be interesting if others would share their own interview experiences... I’ve experienced quite a few different aproaches to interviewing from informal chats
and problem solving to much more formal affairs with interviews with six or seven
people sequentially throughout the day. This is usually on top of an eight hour
timezone shift!

Some studios have quite formal exams, but usually only basic-level maths problems
such as solving similtaneous equations or calculating interception times.

Another time I was asked to implement a double-linked list task with a few restrictions
but I probably went over the top and wrote a unit test also.

My friend Henrik at Psygnosis had a test involving matrix stacks and moving from
frame to frame and we still use a Psygnosis linked list test ourselves as it demonstrates
multi-level thinking and refinement of solutions.

It would be interesting if others would share their own interview experiences…

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By: @Fwznssr/2011/04/05/building-the-perfect-coder/#comment-2366 @Fwznssr Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:41:28 +0000 No probs :) No probs :)

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By: Andy-Thomason/2011/04/05/building-the-perfect-coder/#comment-2355 Andy-Thomason Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:50:45 +0000 Oh crap, Link feature didn't work, here's another shot: http://www.modeemi.fi/drdoom/AltDevBlogADay.png Oh crap, Link feature didn’t work, here’s another shot:

Something funny happened to this article (when it was read in Google Reader). <a href="http://www.modeemi.fi/drdoom/AltDevBlogADay.png" rel="nofollow"></a> Something funny happened to this article (when it was read in Google Reader).

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