It's All Geek to Me

Python developer programming tests

I recently administered a programming test to a number of applicants for a Python developer job at 2degreesnetwork.com. Since we now have a new developer (hi Gustavo!), I figured I would post the test and see what kind of response I get to them.

There are two parts to the test, neither are hugely difficult, but there is enough scope in the solutions to understand how the candidate approaches a problem.

In the first part of the test I asked the candidate to look at the following code and implement the thousands_with_commas function, which should take an integer and return a string representation of that integer with commas separating groups of three digits:

def thousands_with_commas(i):

    return str(i)


if __name__ == '__main__':

    assert thousands_with_commas(1234) == '1,234'
    assert thousands_with_commas(123456789) == '123,456,789'
    assert thousands_with_commas(12) == '12'

I think there is a way of doing this with the standard library, and there is also an implementation in Django, but I was looking for a solution from scratch.

It worked quite well as an interview problem, because there is no one obvious solution and there are a few potential gotchas to tackle.

In the second part of the test, I asked the candidate to implement a function that uses a word list to return the anagrams of a given word.

I started them off with the following code:

def annograms(word):

    words = [w.rstrip() for w in open('WORD.LST')]

    raise NotImplementedError


if __name__ == "__main__":

    print annograms("train")
    print '--'
    print annograms('drive')
    print '--'
    print annograms('python')

This part of the test gave a good indication of how much a candidate new about data structures and performance.

Feel free to post your solutions in the comments, although I suspect I've seen pretty much all variations on possible solutions!

Talented front-end developer job for Web 2.0 company in Oxford

The company I work for, 2Degrees, is looking for a front-end developer to join our team.

Are you a CSS monkey?

We need a CSS monkey with a good working knowledge of browser quirks and the ability to get even IE6 looking good (although you don't have to like it). It would help if you don't run away screaming from Javascript and can play well with the code monkeys.

More details are below. Email the address at the bottom of the job description, and mention this blog!

Python Job Alert

My employer is looking for a new Python developer to work here in Oxford, UK. The company I work for runs 2degreesnetwork.com, which is collaboration service for sustainable business. Basically, it's a social networking type of site for businesses to collaborate on climate change and related issues. I'm not officially allowed to say this, but the closest analogy is ‘Facebook for Businesses’.