> Many engineers really don't realize how quickly the skills rust, and sometimes sincerely believe themselves to still be as good as they were when they were in practice.
This is very true. I spent 5+ years writing in C++ with some C, but the last 8 years or so have been almost exclusively Java. A few weeks ago, I started on a project in C++.
While Java and C++ are similar at a high level, there are a lot of differences in the details. There's been a lot of moments that would have been embarrassing to have an interveiwer watch. (How do I right a finally block? I can't make this reference point to a new location? What does that compiler error even mean?)
It's only been a few weeks, but I think I'm now close to where I was when I was writing in C++ all the time. However, I am glad I wasn't interviewing for a C++ job a month ago.
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Date: 2012-04-18 04:49 pm (UTC)This is very true. I spent 5+ years writing in C++ with some C, but the last 8 years or so have been almost exclusively Java. A few weeks ago, I started on a project in C++.
While Java and C++ are similar at a high level, there are a lot of differences in the details. There's been a lot of moments that would have been embarrassing to have an interveiwer watch. (How do I right a finally block? I can't make this reference point to a new location? What does that compiler error even mean?)
It's only been a few weeks, but I think I'm now close to where I was when I was writing in C++ all the time. However, I am glad I wasn't interviewing for a C++ job a month ago.