topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Friday March 29, 2024, 4:39 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Author Topic: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test  (Read 14939 times)

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« on: July 29, 2008, 06:47 PM »
A funny little 20-question quiz testing programming/computing knowledge. I scored 80, but deliberately chose the tongue-in-cheek answer to the Ruby question ("Because Ruby programmers are full of themselves") :). I was glad to see that InfoWorld got the answer for "What data type is best for representing figures in dollars and cents?" right.

Give it a try!.

My wrongs: #6 (soda), #10 (ruby - deliberately, I did know the right answer :)), #15 P/NP (yeah, my maths suck), #17 (Kernighan).
- carpe noctem
« Last Edit: July 29, 2008, 07:13 PM by f0dder »

mouser

  • First Author
  • Administrator
  • Joined in 2005
  • *****
  • Posts: 40,896
    • View Profile
    • Mouser's Software Zone on DonationCoder.com
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2008, 07:03 PM »
I got an 80 as well (though i didnt get the ruby one wrong, deliberately or otherwise).
It should be noted this is more of a historical quiz with a few stupid questions thrown in for good measure.

mouser

  • First Author
  • Administrator
  • Joined in 2005
  • *****
  • Posts: 40,896
    • View Profile
    • Mouser's Software Zone on DonationCoder.com
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2008, 07:06 PM »
i got wrong:
soda, javascript, JIT compiler (i suspected the right answer but didnt go for it), and kernighan.

Stoic Joker

  • Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2008
  • **
  • Posts: 6,646
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2008, 07:56 AM »
I got an 80 as well (though i didnt get the ruby one wrong, deliberately or otherwise).
It should be noted this is more of a historical quiz with a few stupid questions thrown in for good measure.
Being that I've never been good at history, that may explain my getting a 40. *Shrug* ...That and I'm (completely self taught) not formally educated.

mouser

  • First Author
  • Administrator
  • Joined in 2005
  • *****
  • Posts: 40,896
    • View Profile
    • Mouser's Software Zone on DonationCoder.com
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2008, 08:01 AM »
This score tells you nothing about how good you are as a programmer.
My finding is that self-taught people are as good as any formally educated coder, except for one major difference:

The formally educated coders often don't obey good coding standards but know that they should be ashamed of it.
The self-taught people often don't obey good coding standards and don't realize they are doing anything wrong.

 ;)

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2008, 08:04 AM »
I'm autodidact as well, Joker, and I usually suck at history. But programming-related stuff tends to stick :)
- carpe noctem

electronixtar

  • Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 141
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2008, 03:05 PM »
I got 30  ;D

40hz

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 11,857
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2008, 04:40 PM »
I bopped a 70. Now it's official - I got me bragging rights!
I think that means I know enough to be dangerous but not enough to be effective. Lucky thing I got out of coding and into network design and server infrastructure!
("The world needs ditch-diggers too Danny...") ;)

IT_tappedin.gif

Missed 1,6,10,16.17,19. My bad... :-[
« Last Edit: August 01, 2008, 04:46 PM by 40hz »

40hz

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 11,857
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #8 on: August 02, 2008, 11:59 AM »
I got 30  ;D
-electronixtar (August 01, 2008, 03:05 PM)

You probably did better on it than SCO CEO Darl McBride would have.

Check out this article:
http://arstechnica.c...-a-copy-of-unix.html

SCO CEO Darl McBride takes the stand

McBride said that SCO holds the rights to UNIX and that "many Linux contributors were originally UNIX developers." Specifically, he said, "We have evidence System V is in Linux,"—directly contradicting what Sontag had previously testified. Due to the witness exclusion rule invoked by both parties, McBride was not present during Sontag's testimony and wasn't aware of what had been said. McBride's claims also directly contradict internal SCO memos from 2002, which reveal that the company's own extensive source code audits had uncovered no UNIX code in Linux.

McBride attempted to reinforce his argument with analogy. "When you go to the bookstore and look in the UNIX section, there's books on 'How to Program UNIX' but when you go to the Linux section and look for 'How to Program Linux' you're not gonna find it, because it doesn't exist." Then came the real humdinger, and my jaw dropped when I heard the following come out of his mouth: "Linux is a copy of UNIX, there is no difference [between them]."

Here's McBride's compensation package info:

http://investing.bus...&symbol=SCOXQ.PK

So take heart. A 30 should qualify someone to become a $500K CEO at the very least! (I knew I should have gone into management instead of tech...) ;D
« Last Edit: August 02, 2008, 12:07 PM by 40hz »

electronixtar

  • Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 141
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #9 on: August 02, 2008, 01:44 PM »
I got 30  ;D
-electronixtar (August 01, 2008, 03:05 PM)

You probably did better on it than SCO CEO Darl McBride would have.

Check out this article:
http://arstechnica.c...-a-copy-of-unix.html

SCO CEO Darl McBride takes the stand

McBride said that SCO holds the rights to UNIX and that "many Linux contributors were originally UNIX developers." Specifically, he said, "We have evidence System V is in Linux,"—directly contradicting what Sontag had previously testified. Due to the witness exclusion rule invoked by both parties, McBride was not present during Sontag's testimony and wasn't aware of what had been said. McBride's claims also directly contradict internal SCO memos from 2002, which reveal that the company's own extensive source code audits had uncovered no UNIX code in Linux.

McBride attempted to reinforce his argument with analogy. "When you go to the bookstore and look in the UNIX section, there's books on 'How to Program UNIX' but when you go to the Linux section and look for 'How to Program Linux' you're not gonna find it, because it doesn't exist." Then came the real humdinger, and my jaw dropped when I heard the following come out of his mouth: "Linux is a copy of UNIX, there is no difference [between them]."

Here's McBride's compensation package info:

http://investing.bus...&symbol=SCOXQ.PK

So take heart. A 30 should qualify someone to become a $500K CEO at the very least! (I knew I should have gone into management instead of tech...) ;D


LOL. Very funny.

Veign

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 993
    • View Profile
    • Veign - Where design meets development
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #10 on: August 02, 2008, 03:33 PM »
I got a 70.

The ones I missed where history ones and that soda question.

mrainey

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 439
    • View Profile
    • Website
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2008, 09:29 AM »
I got 50 - not too bad for someone who programs in BASIC   ;D
Software For Metalworking
http://closetolerancesoftware.com

Renegade

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 13,288
  • Tell me something you don't know...
    • View Profile
    • Renegade Minds
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #12 on: August 06, 2008, 09:50 PM »
I did horribly -- the history questions killed me.
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

cthorpe

  • Discount Coordinator
  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 738
  • c++thorpe
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2008, 02:27 AM »
I got a 90, and I couldn't program myself out of a wet bag. 

TPReal

  • Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 129
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: The InfoWorld Programming IQ Test
« Reply #14 on: August 15, 2008, 01:37 PM »
The history questions are for computer science students, who I am not. I got 60.
The 'P ? NP' question was really funny :)