Impact (Javascript Game Engine) Sales Report(phoboslab.org)
phoboslab.org
Impact (Javascript Game Engine) Sales Report
http://www.phoboslab.org/log/2011/01/impact-sales-report
11 comments
So Facebook is yet another of those companies where being hired depends on CS/math trivia questions? Apparently a lot of people think it's easier to design a good API than look up Newton's method on Wikipedia.
Well, the man wrote a game engine in JavaScript, so asking him to implement a sqrt() function in JavaScript isn't unheard of. They don't ask "math trivia" questions of every interviewee, but here it seems relevant.
Not to diminish the awesome work this guy has done.
Not to diminish the awesome work this guy has done.
sqrt and its approximations seems a bit too low-level, both for what he did and what Facebook is doing. This is the kind of stuff you look up, as opposed to other algorithmic difficulties that arise out of total different situations where without a good general background you wouldn't even know what to research.
Questions about trees, graphs etc. would seem more appropriate for game development (and probably for Facebook in general).
But that's just me. Sqrt might even be a good question if he's a recent graduate and they want to see if he still can think back a couple of years...
Questions about trees, graphs etc. would seem more appropriate for game development (and probably for Facebook in general).
But that's just me. Sqrt might even be a good question if he's a recent graduate and they want to see if he still can think back a couple of years...
When you're writing a game engine, your main concern is performance. Not using the built-in javascript sqrt() and rolling out your own would be woefully inefficient.
That question would have made more sense for an engine in C, building your own fixed-point sqrt() for example.
That question would have made more sense for an engine in C, building your own fixed-point sqrt() for example.
Great post. I have been working with JavaScript heavily the last months and I really felt in love with it. I'm interested to start such kind of products, but I don't find any viable idea. I'm thinking of another Data Grid using jQuery. (I already bought jquerygrid.com, anyone has a suggestion if it's a good idea?).
@Author: I would like that you talk to us more about the development and marketing process.
@Author: I would like that you talk to us more about the development and marketing process.
If you think you can do better than SlickGrid, let me know. I did some in-depth research into JavaScript (specifically, jQuery) datagrids some time ago. You can find it on StackOverflow (I'm Rudiger, the asker): http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2402953/javascript-data-g...
I see here that you are pointing at only one particular problem, which is loading heavy amount of rows in one page.
Can you explain how it can be better than SlickGrid? (other than that)
Can you explain how it can be better than SlickGrid? (other than that)
My advice is to differentiate; jqGrid and SlickGrid are two very good jQuery datagrids. If you want to compete, do something they don't do (or don't do well).
Maybe a jQuery mobile datagrid? They're far from perfect on the iPhone/iPad... Just a thought.
Maybe a jQuery mobile datagrid? They're far from perfect on the iPhone/iPad... Just a thought.
An easy way to get grid data combined with some statistics/graphs package (e.g. flot) would probably be a good selling point, as lots of applications use both. Not saying that it's a big deal to implement, but you can't ever make it too easy for that kind of stuff...
datagrids will always remain in hot demand. Just check what jqgrid offers and always make it easier and simpler
There is definitely room for simpler. jqGrid and others tend to favor convention over configuration. This certainly makes example code shorter. But usually I'm adding the grid to a site with pre-existing data sources, UI conventions, and other requirements. I have to override all the defaults, and the result is less maintainable than if they'd forced me to configure everything up front. In particular I always have to override the AJAX stuff, and it's always ugly.