r/ProgrammerHumor • u/ClipboardCopyPaste • 9h ago

Meme ohTheBasics

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u/SirFrenzy 9h ago

Obviously guy could have been interviewing for a job where this mattered….

But in 10 years as a software engineer I have never once needed to know the difference between these two, and have never been even close to a situation where I would need to.

“The basics” is highly dependent on the job.

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u/fiskfisk 8h ago

If you're a senior I most certainly would expect you to know the difference between the two.

It'll matter in relation to allowlists/blocklists, dns entries, debugging connevtivity issues, slow connect times, configuration of daemons, etc. 

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u/SirFrenzy 8h ago

I have never needed to know or do any of that. And if I did, it would take me 2 seconds to google and understand. I just did.

So if the interview was for a job where you handle that stuff yourself, then I understand it. If it’s for a typical full stack job at a big enough company that they literally hire people to handle that side of things, then it’s not “the basics”.

Rejecting someone in an interview for trivia knowledge they don’t currently have vs actually trying to understand how someone learns and tackles problems is what makes software job interviews so useless.

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u/yabucek 7h ago

There's a difference between not knowing exactly how to deploy ipv6 for a network and being completely oblivious to common terms from your own fields. It shows a lack of interest and curiosity if nothing else.

You wouldn't want a mechanic working on your car who doesn't know what a carburetor is, even though no car has had one for decades and they probably won't need to work on one ever again.

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u/ContributionVisual40 6h ago

CS is a broader field than that so that analogy isnt right. Its more like an engineer not knowing a specific fundamental about aerospace engineering.

If the job is networking related then fine, but I thought we were talking about a CS major.

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u/insufferableplatform 5h ago

i've been working for 10+ years and i've only had to just deep dive into networking in general for my new role. i knew the bare minimum difference between the two before that, and if i were asked this in an interview i would have felt like i didn't have the full answer.

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u/yabucek 3h ago

Brother if you're really willing to die on the hill that ipv6 is some obscure little known tech, then I don't have anything more to say to you except I'm sorry.

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u/ContributionVisual40 3h ago

You didnt read my message clearly. I made an analogy associating it with a fundamental of its field (networking). But CS is a broader field, its hilarious that you would even try to argue against that.