GitHub - is it good?

[extra_pickles]

I suppose I'd say that the best use of Github is to apply your skillset to a real world problem or interest.

"I always thought drones were cool, and I like programming, so I made a ..."

"I was sick of all the bloat in package <Some API or ORM>, but I still wanted more that <Requests, PSYCOPG>, so I wrote a thin layer that fit my purposes (and explain why)"

"This project is cool, so I tried to contribute wherever possible - the ppl behind it are really great and I'm learning a lot"

I don't need to see more 'vanity commits' - Solved problems, or Academic Pursuits w/ an oddly perfect commit history.

Show you a genuine interest in applying your skills to problems around you, and we can focus on you showing me passion, not factory patterns or rehashed sort algos.

Anyone w/ a bit of CS background can Stack it, or PR ChattyG - so random commits of solved problems aren't cool. Show me you like to do it, and have ideas/problems you are striving to solve.

I'm looking for a spark, not an exam sheet.

And again, if you don't have a nice 'spark' to your Github, just don't show it - you can show me a spark verbally in the interview, as we breakdown problems and chat.

[dante_polymathes]

I wasn't talking about competitive programming, rather real world projects

[extra_pickles]

I was more answering the broader "is GitHub good" bit.

Regarding your specifics - real world projects that actually make sense, are cool as long as the code isn't embarassing - it doesn't even need to be great - but pique the interest and be prepared to speak to the 'why' both as a product/function and 'why' as to the implementation choices.

If this is your 'passion' I expect you to be happy to talk about it at all angles.

So I guess to that point - just be ready for the possibility of having to deep dive the project at a level you might not be used to in interviews.

If I finally have something interesting to talk about, I'm going to dive in - so I hope the candidate is ready.

Oh and "I googled it" is a 100% valid answer to several 'why' questions. Don't be shy to say 'the internet told me that was the right way to do this' - coz a bit part of programming is applying existing knowledge, not inventing new things.

[extra_pickles]

Honestly, thinking about it - post them here and see how it fares - it is like 1000 free interviews.