Get certified, is it worth the cost?

[TimerClock14]

I'm thinking about paying the $95 for a certification test in javascript. But before I go through with it, I want to know: is it worth it?

[scauduro221095]

You should look at these points before you do anything:
1. Is it going to help you with your work?
2. Does it really matter to you whether you have a certificate or not?
3. Can you see yourself going somewhere with this certificate, will you get a better job or even a side job?

These points mainly revolve around work, but that is what I think matters. I personally wouldnt get it if you answered no to those questions other wise yes definetely, it is another credential to go with your name and that can help a lot in the work force.

[davidy22]

Web coding is a lucrative field, growing quickly and well worth a certification of any kind. I wouldn't pay the money though, as technology companies are usually more concerned with your programming aptitude. Are you still in university? If so, apply to google summer of code when it comes round next year, go for a CMS frontend or something similar.


This is assuming you already know how to write in javascript. You can, can't you?

Write a program to find the largest prime factor of a number. I don't want it to execute, I just want to see the code.

[TimerClock14]

Web coding is a lucrative field, growing quickly and well worth a certification of any kind. I wouldn't pay the money though, as technology companies are usually more concerned with your programming aptitude. Are you still in university? If so, apply to google summer of code when it comes round next year, go for a CMS frontend or something similar.

Nah, I'm still 2 years away from college. I'll keep that in mind though.

This is assuming you already know how to write in javascript. You can, can't you?
Write a program to find the largest prime factor of a number. I don't want it to execute, I just want to see the code.

Um what? I definitely know that I can write in javascript, otherwise I wouldn't be looking into a javascript certification in the first place. I'm not going to bother writing that code because I know my capabilities and I certainly don't have to prove myself to you.

Thanks for the response.

[davidy22]

Web coding is a lucrative field, growing quickly and well worth a certification of any kind. I wouldn't pay the money though, as technology companies are usually more concerned with your programming aptitude. Are you still in university? If so, apply to google summer of code when it comes round next year, go for a CMS frontend or something similar.

Nah, I'm still 2 years away from college. I'll keep that in mind though.

This is assuming you already know how to write in javascript. You can, can't you?
Write a program to find the largest prime factor of a number. I don't want it to execute, I just want to see the code.

Um what? I definitely know that I can write in javascript, otherwise I wouldn't be looking into a javascript certification in the first place. I'm not going to bother writing that code because I know my capabilities and I certainly don't have to prove myself to you.

Thanks for the response.

You get better at programming through practice. If you don't want to practice and get peer review, you won't get better. Have a go at it, use psueodocode if you want.

[TimerClock14]

Web coding is a lucrative field, growing quickly and well worth a certification of any kind. I wouldn't pay the money though, as technology companies are usually more concerned with your programming aptitude. Are you still in university? If so, apply to google summer of code when it comes round next year, go for a CMS frontend or something similar.

Nah, I'm still 2 years away from college. I'll keep that in mind though.

This is assuming you already know how to write in javascript. You can, can't you?
Write a program to find the largest prime factor of a number. I don't want it to execute, I just want to see the code.

Um what? I definitely know that I can write in javascript, otherwise I wouldn't be looking into a javascript certification in the first place. I'm not going to bother writing that code because I know my capabilities and I certainly don't have to prove myself to you.

Thanks for the response.

You get better at programming through practice. If you don't want to practice and get peer review, you won't get better. Have a go at it, use psueodocode if you want.

Since it's late I'll take you up on that offer:

Code: [Select]

function findGreatestPrimeFactor(factor){
var primeFactors = new Array();
var i = 2;
var j;
while(i <= (Math.ceil(factor/2))){
j = (factor/i);
if(isprime(j)){primeFactors.push(j);}
i++;
}
var output = max(primeFactors);
return output;
 }

 function isprime(num){
if(iswhole(num)){
for(var i=2;i<num;i++){
if(iswhole(num/i)){return false; break;}
if(i == num-1){return true;}
}
}

 }
 
function iswhole(num){
var rounded = Math.round(num);
if(rounded = num){return true;}else{return false;}
}
Again, it's late so ignore any obvious syntax errors.

[davidy22]

Code: [Select]

function findGreatestPrimeFactor(factor){
var primeFactors = new Array();
var i = 2;
var j;
while(i <= (Math.ceil(factor/2))){
j = (factor/i);
if(isprime(j)){primeFactors.push(j);}
i++;
}
var output = max(primeFactors);
return output;
 }

 function isprime(num){
if(iswhole(num)){
for(var i=2;i<num;i++){
if(iswhole(num/i)){return false; break;}
if(i == num-1){return true;}
}
}

 }
 
function iswhole(num){
var rounded = Math.round(num);
if(rounded = num){return true;}else{return false;}
}
Again, it's late so ignore any obvious syntax errors.

You could save quite a few iterations of the while loop in the main body by having i only go up to the square root of the number. After the square root, the factors begin to mirror back.

The isprime() function could test the input against the factors in the primeFactors array, as most numbers are just just composites of smaller prime numbers. have the for loop go up to the length of the array, and return true if the array is depleted.

Nicely built loops, did you go back and optimize your code after you wrote it?



Give and take, you give me a problem now. Don't be afraid to rail at any problems you find, I won't flame you back.

[TimerClock14]

Code: [Select]

function findGreatestPrimeFactor(factor){
var primeFactors = new Array();
var i = 2;
var j;
while(i <= (Math.ceil(factor/2))){
j = (factor/i);
if(isprime(j)){primeFactors.push(j);}
i++;
}
var output = max(primeFactors);
return output;
 }

 function isprime(num){
if(iswhole(num)){
for(var i=2;i<num;i++){
if(iswhole(num/i)){return false; break;}
if(i == num-1){return true;}
}
}

 }
 
function iswhole(num){
var rounded = Math.round(num);
if(rounded = num){return true;}else{return false;}
}
Again, it's late so ignore any obvious syntax errors.

You could save quite a few iterations of the while loop in the main body by having i only go up to the square root of the number. After the square root, the factors begin to mirror back.

Ah, so it -was- the square root. I remembered about that pattern after doing countless square root equations for homework in algebra this past year, but couldn't remember if it was half or square root.

The isprime() function could test the input against the factors in the primeFactors array, as most numbers are just just composites of smaller prime numbers. have the for loop go up to the length of the array, and return true if the array is depleted.

Wouldn't that create circular dependencies though?

Nicely built loops, did you go back and optimize your code after you wrote it?

Thanks, and what does "optimize your code" mean?

Give and take, you give me a problem now. Don't be afraid to rail at any problems you find, I won't flame you back.

xD We're not having a flame war by any means.

Let's see.....
Write a code that generates random hexadecimal color codes by assembling each of the 6 characters one by one to produce the final result.

[davidy22]

Code: [Select]

HexadecimalDigits = ['0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','A','B',
'C','D','E','F');

function makeHexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil() {
    HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil = '#';
    for (i=0,i<6,i++) {
        HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil =
        HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil +
        HexadecimalDigits[Math.floor(Math.random()*16)];
    }
    return HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil;
}I must have understood your problem wrong. That was too easy.

Oooh, stupid dependencies. Maybe have the loop terminate when the value in the primeFactors array goes higher than the num variable?

Optimize means to go back over your code and see if you can pare out any needless processes or loop iterations,

Bogobogosort is the world's most inefficient sorting algorithm.
http://www.dangermouse.net/esoteric/bogobogosort.html
Implement Bogobogosort. Any variant.

[artimies7]

I just noticed this thread. I've got a bit of Java under my collar, but not much. (Think two weekends with a textbook.) I can only run a bit of question&answer with popup windows, so this is pretty high-level stuff to me.

But that's not important. My opinion: Certification = Yes. Always good to have it say on your resume/website 'Certified Java programmer with X years of focused experience."

EDIT: Nice name, davidy22. Spoken with pure programming evil.

[davidy22]

I just noticed this thread. I've got a bit of Java under my collar, but not much. (Think two weekends with a textbook.) I can only run a bit of question&answer with popup windows, so this is pretty high-level stuff to me.

But that's not important. My opinion: Certification = Yes. Always good to have it say on your resume/website 'Certified Java programmer with X years of focused experience."

EDIT: Nice name, davidy22. Spoken with pure programming evil.

Javascript is different from java. Java runs on a bytecode interpreter, and needs to be compiled. Javascript runs inside a browser and needs no compile. Javascript also tends to run much slower than java, because of the browser overhead and the need to parse in real-time.

A certification certainly helps, but isn't necessary to get a job in programming. Many firms will want to personally test your aptitude with programming problems. In those cases, practice and prior experience are needed. They may also want to see what past work you have done, thus my suggestion to work on summer of code. Helping an existing project, logging all the code you write, will contribute to that portfolio. A certification may help you get past the initial screening though.

Naming my variable that is probably poor programming practice, but I'm probably never going to touch it again and it makes for a good joke.

[TimerClock14]

Code: [Select]

HexadecimalDigits = ['0','1','2','3','4','5','6','7','8','9','A','B',
'C','D','E','F');

function makeHexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil() {
    HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil = '#';
    for (i=0,i<6,i++) {
       --> HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil =
       --> HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil +
       --> HexadecimalDigits[Math.floor(Math.random()*16)];
    }
    return HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil;
}I must have understood your problem wrong. That was too easy.

You probably could shorten the length of your code by making the indicated parts this:

Code: [Select]

HexadecimalCodeOfPureDemonicEvil += HexadecimalDigits[Math.floor(Math.random()*16)];


Oooh, stupid dependencies. Maybe have the loop terminate when the value in the primeFactors array goes higher than the num variable?

Wouldn't that be after it already finished?

Optimize means to go back over your code and see if you can pare out any needless processes or loop iterations,

:0 I didn't do that. But I usually do.

Bogobogosort is the world's most inefficient sorting algorithm.
http://www.dangermouse.net/esoteric/bogobogosort.html
Implement Bogobogosort. Any variant.

Ok, If I could understand half the stuff that's written on that webpage I'd have aced algebra this year with no effort. :| But I got a solid B. So....yeah.