GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata VS curriculum

The problem is though how do you evaluate for real work without a portfolio of experience? Real work projects take weeks - perhaps months - to design, build, review and release. How do you test for that, really?

I agree leetcode style interviews are artificial, but I think they persist because few people have identified and popularised effective alternatives. At least with leetcode you've shown people in front of you have been prepared to go learn arcane stuff and apply it. It's not good, but it's better than nothing.

I was once asked to do the Gilded Rose kata[1] for one ~200 headcount Series D "startup", and it not only resembled real work - it's a refactoring problem - but it also showed their engineering culture. When I joined, I found smart people who weren't leetcode robots, but thoughtful engineers trying to solve tricky engineering problems. I "stole" Gilded Rose to use in other companies when interviewing until I joined my current employer (a FAANG, heavily prescribed process), with great success. I would like to see more katas that are as good at testing real world skills.

Also, something I've only ever been interviewed for twice in 25+ years, which I think is underplayed: pair programming and handling code review feedback. Do this more, please. If you hire people not knowing how they're going to respond to a principal engineer telling them "we need you to think about 4 other things that weren't in the original scope given to you by the PM, can you please go deal with them", why are you surprised when toys are subsequently thrown out of metaphorical prams?

[1] https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata

If you want to improve your refactoring skills, I recommend you take a look at The Gilded Rose Kata, a structured approach to refactoring training, initially created by Terry Hughes, and further refined by Emily Bache. It emphasizes test-driven development, proven refactoring patterns and an evolutionary approach.

Here's the link to the problem: https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata

At the same conference, I also watched a demonstration using the Gilded Rose Kata to show the value of writing tests before refactoring. I don’t have the exact video, but there are plenty of gilded rose videos out there. Or you can just try writing some tests and refactoring the gilded rose yourself: https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata

Gilded Rose Refactoring Kata

Hello friends. This is my Gilded Rose Kata blog post.

Today, the HR recruiter came in before the management meeting and rejected me for an open position as a tech lead due to the technical results. It was an easy kata (https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata) but I decided to design tests for the entire code, and not for the new feature itself. Being cut off in the middle of the interview has never happened to me before. I do code and I do enjoy front end development, but I am frustrated with my current job and perhaps I am not cut out for this. If I cannot complete a technical kata/test in front of people, then how can I move past this job I have now?

Now don't want to be too critical and just leave you hanging. Instead of doing just random code sandboxes, I would recommend to grind your teeth against something like this: https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata

So what is the Gilded Rose? Is it it this? https://github.com/emilybache/GildedRose-Refactoring-Kata

There were frustrations and compromises and victories, but little by little I can see my progress, and I still enjoy the act of overcoming these new challenges and learning more and more. Each day is another little lesson. I look forward to continuing with The Odin Project and the next challenges, but in the meantime I must return to looking for my alternance (apprenticeship) and maybe a small personal project before launching into the next part of the curriculum.

The Odin Project: With its hands-on approach, The Odin Project guids through everything from basic HTML and CSS to full-stack development.

The Odin Project (https://www.theodinproject.com/)

The Odin Project The Odin Project offers a full-stack curriculum for aspiring web developers. With its project-based approach, you'll gain practical experience while learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more.

TheOdinProject

The Odin Project - Free, open-source platform with a curriculum focused on JavaScript and Ruby for web development.

I'll throw in a vote for teaching yourself or using free resources and communities. Even if you go down the bootcamp route it is going to take a lot of self motivation and work outside of the bootcamp / afterwards in order to become job ready. Or at least do this to start with to make sure you like it.

I did this myself a few years years ago over lockdown. I had a lot of down time and worked on teaching myself web development full time 5 days a week for about a year. I was then able to land a job at a FAANG company through an apprenticeship scheme that they offer in the UK (I'm not sure if these kinds of schemes are available in the US) where I stayed for a year and a half and I am now working for a startup in a position I found through connections I made at my previous job. At the time I did have other offers for non-apprenticeship roles at other companies so don't let the absence of apprenticeships put you off if they aren't on offer in the US. The job market was definitely better when I was applying for my first job so the process might be more drawn out now. The main resource I used for self teaching was The Odin Project (https://www.theodinproject.com/). I also did a batch at The Recurse Center (https://www.recurse.com/) which was a great experience in general, especially for getting some hands on time working on projects with other people. I would say be curious, reach out to people who are working on things you find interesting to ask them for a chat and just persevere with the applications as you will definitely get a lot of rejections.

One more thing (might be UK specific as well) but I would check to see if there are any government funded bootcamps you might be able to get a place on. I know multiple people in the UK who got the job center to pay for them to do a bootcamp while they were on universal credit and now work in the industry.

So I have been learning how to code and broadly development since 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdowns, beginning with the classic triple threat of HTML/CSS/JavaScript, adding into the mix a dash of Python and since returning to live in France 2022 have committed to The Odin Project web-development program and happily began my full time formal learning with Ada Tech School in 2023. Now the search for my 12-month-long apprenticeship (Alternance, en français) begins, as well as continuing my self-study and side-projects.

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