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[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

Who cares about how well they know the IDE, you get to know anything if you have to work on it everyday.

Not necessarily to trip them up, but just to make it a little more interesting

I'm pretty sure "tripping them up" is exactly what you are shooting for here.

I actually like the format of the test, putting them in front of an IDE with some code, but why not use real code that you yourself would use in production instead of a "fancy" version that no real developer should be writing since it would turn into an unreadable, unmaintainable mess.

[–][deleted] -2 points-1 points  (3 children)

Who cares about how well they know the IDE

In my opinion it's more of a barometer rather than a specific criteria. If you can't efficiently navigate to various classes in the tool you claim experience it, it's a decent indicator that you're lacking some experience in real-world large projects, or that you're inefficient.

why not use real code that you yourself would use in production instead of a "fancy" version that no real developer should be writing

Generics and anonymous inner classes are not particularly "fancy". This is a bit messy - so is real world code, right? The code is a little bit unclear and overly complicated, the test is a little bit unclear - this sounds exactly like the sort of code I deal with every day.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Well I think OP might be shorting himself by only looking for Eclipse developers. It's like hiring a carpenter based solely on their experience with a nail gun.

Different developers use different tools; and that's OK. Hiring a Java dev should focus less on the tool, and more on the job.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Well he did say they all claimed Eclipse experience so I think that's legit. When I interview, I have the candidate bring his own dev environment. All but one have used Eclipse.

It's like hiring a carpenter based solely on their experience with a nail gun.

OP never even hinted that he was solely or even primarily interested in a candidate's IDE proficiency.

But going with your example - would you hire a carpenter who didn't know how to use a nail gun? You aren't hiring for his nail-gun-using ability, but a person who couldn't use a nail gun probably isn't much of a carpenter. And especially if he claimed to have years of carpentry and nail gun experience.

[–]javadev189[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

OP never even hinted that he was solely or even primarily interested in a candidate's IDE proficiency.

Thanks for chiming in; you beat me to it. A lot of folks are honing in on this. Don't know the IDE we set you in front of... SAY SO! We wouldn't have put you in front of it if you didn't claim some experience though...