testing potential GSOC students

Hi Boost mentors, I'd like to know how you test your potential students to see if they have a sufficient level in C++. It's totally different than doing a C++ interview, because they have plenty of time to answer questions and they can use help from google or any other source. For Boost.uBLAS, I ask them to write a little vector library (vector in the sense of linear algebra) using expression templates. It's the bare minimum they have to know. I ask different features to each student. They we talk about their code and I ask them to modify it to introduce new features for example. And you ? Best regards, David

For Boost.uBLAS, I ask them to write a little vector library (vector in the sense of linear algebra) using expression templates. It's the bare minimum they have to know. I ask different features to each student. They we talk about their code and I ask them to modify it to introduce new features for example.
And you ?
Pretty much the same. We ask for a code sample and exchange
some e-mails in the background to ensure that the technical problem
has been understood.
I don't necessarily look exclusively for, let's say, the *greatest*
programmer. Of course, a general understanding of the problem
domainis mandatory.
But to as large or even a larger extent, I also take into account such
aspects as communication skills and the ability to cooperate.
We also look for a clear, realistic proposal that strongly indicates
that the student has understood the technology and attempted
to make a realistic timeline.
Cheers, Chris.
On Saturday, March 1, 2014 8:36 PM, David Bellot

On 1 Mar 2014 at 19:35, David Bellot wrote:
I'd like to know how you test your potential students to see if they have a sufficient level in C++. It's totally different than doing a C++ interview, because they have plenty of time to answer questions and they can use help from google or any other source.
For Boost.uBLAS, I ask them to write a little vector library (vector in the sense of linear algebra) using expression templates. It's the bare minimum they have to know. I ask different features to each student. They we talk about their code and I ask them to modify it to introduce new features for example.
And you ?
I was a bit more competitive last year. See https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5QDPUNHLpKMUWppb3FacTdpclE/edit?usp= sharing for the instructions for the test I gave them. Niall -- Currently unemployed and looking for work in Ireland. Work Portfolio: http://careers.stackoverflow.com/nialldouglas/
participants (3)
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Christopher Kormanyos
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David Bellot
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Niall Douglas