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3 minutes

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This is my admission. A brain dump of an awkward Scala interviewing experience, first of all, I am going to hold my fire, because in the end state, it really does not matter. Instead, the adage that I elect to follow is known as Knowledge is Power – Share Some, Rasta.

I have some experience of interviewing candidates for Java Test-Driven Development. When the table have been turned, you are in a position of power, and a lot people forget that you are also supposed to job a leader. When a candidate is interviewing for a position, you forget to acknowledge he/she are in a vulnerable position.

Divided in 3 episodes

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Why did say that above? I say this, because right now, at the time of writing May 2023, Scala is seriously in a cross-roads position. The issue is the adoption of Scala v3.0 versus the predominent version of Scala 2.x and the library across the ecosystem. As John A De Goes explained in his Splendid Scala Journey post, “Despite these successes and my deep-rooted passion for Scala, I [JDG] find recent trends drawing me towards new horizons.”

So why did I apply for Scala programming / software engineer gig? Easy. I needed a gig, a full-time permanent position or a contract temporary thing. You might of heard of damn Tech Layoffs (or this super website here) hiting the software engineering industry, perhaps globally. (*REDACTED*) I failed to listen to my inner voice.

Let me share my knowledge of Scala 2.x and how to implement the Mars Rover coding test challenge. I had to do this in a live coding example. I got as far the Move function. It was a lot to implement in 1 hour. In the end, I was not selected for the job, some other dude/duddette. There is no point crying over spilt milk. Just someone wipe it up and clean down. I did not use the Scala Enumeration, perhaps that fact counted against me. I also admitted that I developed Scala in part-time basis shared with Java 17. The client wanted near enough 100% recent experience in my last gig. The truth hurts suppose and it did to me on that occassion. I could have lied out my back teeth, but then you get found out. My CV said what my skills I used in my previous gigs. Ah well.

In Life, a lot of time, think of the tragic poor whatever who is interviewing me on the other side. I just laughed silently on reflection, because I know exactly what it is like. The time-pressure, stress of meeting a stranger, the unknown, the unexpected, getting to grip the organisations, groups of departments of people, review of code, analyse of CV skills. So may variable sliders on the sound mixer desk can destroy a classic pop tune, especially if you are clueless as a music producer. I know the routine, but still everyone performs differently live in the place-to-be, whether it is your office or your home.

My code is here: https://github.com/peterpilgrim/mars-rover-xamini-peterp

+PP+

May 2023