struggling graduate

[kevbusby]

hey

i finished university about 2 months ago after studying web development. im just waiting for graduation now and looking for full time work in web development.

during the last 2 months ive had 2 jobs...one as an ASP.net developer and the other as a PHP developer...i lost both jobs within a matter of weeks because both said they needed someone more advanced as i was struggling to get work done quickly enough.

ive continued to apply but more specifically for junior and graduate roles...this morning someone i sent my CV to got back to me and said they would like to send me a small test before they decide on an interview or not...this is for a junior web developer role...i recieved the test and have been trying to do it all day

i just cant do it....its far too complicated for me and i dont even know where to begin...i only have untill tomorrow morning.

this has got me thinking my time at uni has been a complete waste...perhaps i didnt learn as much as i needed to even though i managed to pass all my modules and create what i think is quite a good final project (using PHP)

i cant seem to hold a job down...and am struggling with a junior roles test and its getting me down...can someone give me any advice?

[Nedals]

I'd be interested to see the 'small test' to get better undestanding of what you "cannnot do" after completing a University course. You can post it as a .txt attachment.

This, alas, is not an offer to do the test. :)
Based on that someone may be able to advise you on your next course of action.

[kevbusby]

I'd be interested to see the 'small test' to get better undestanding of what you "cannnot do" after completing a University course. You can post it as a .txt attachment.

This, alas, is not an offer to do the test. :)
Based on that someone may be able to advise you on your next course of action.

yes please dont mistake me for asking for help on the test...as nice as that would be lol my ultimate problem is my apparent incompetance when it comes to web development outside of my university life.

the test description is only small...and vague...i think they leave it vague so people can add their own creativity to the game...however its so vague i literally dont know where to start...although i believe they require me to use PHP for it.

here is the task

Create the following game:

You set of warriors, each warrior has the following data:
● Name
● Health
● Attack
● Defence
● Speed
● Evade

Health, Attack, Defence and Speed are integer values between 0 and 100. Evade is a number between 0 and 1.

There are currently 3 types of warrior:
● Ninja
○ Health (40-60)
○ Attack (60-70)
○ Defence (20-30)
○ Speed (90-100)
○ Evade (0.3-0.5)

● Samurai
○ Health (60-100)
○ Attack (75-80)
○ Defence (35-40)
○ Speed (60-80)
○ Evade (0.3-0.4)

● Brawler
○ Health (90-100)
○ Attack (65-75)
○ Defence (40-50)
○ Speed (40-65)
○ Evade (0.3-0.35)

The values for each attribute are specified as a range, on creation each warrior will be assigned a random value within this range for the given attribute.

Warriors can take part in a battle, a battle has only 2 combatants. Warriors take it in turn to attack each other.

The warrior with the greatest speed takes the first attack (in the event of
two with the same speed, player with the lower defence goes first).

The damage dealt is (attack - oppositions defence) and is taken from the health. Damage may be avoided, the chance of avoiding an attack is specified by the evade attribute.

The max amount of turns is 30 per player, if no player is defeated then the battle is a draw.

As the battle progresses a text output should be shown. When a warrior gets to zero health the warrior is defeated.

Special attributes of warriors:
● Ninja
With each attack there is a 5% chance of doubling the attack strength.

● Samurai
When a samurai evades an attack there is a 10% chance of regaining 10
health.

● +Brawler
○ When a brawler’s health falls to less than 20% their defence increases by 10.

Allow a form to select player 1 and 2, and when submitted create a battle with the 2 players and output the result of the battle!!

[Nedals]

You could code this in PHP, ASP, or even Javascript but that's not the problem.
The problem here is trying to figure out what you are supposed to do.
(This is not really a test in programming, but more a test in game theory)

You need to outline a process in somewhat plain English. (psudo code - Don't worry about real code)
Then you can program it in any language of your choosing. (the better the psudo code the easier it will be to code in any language) In fact, if I were responding, I would not even bother with real code,. (but the outline better be good)

Start by figuring out what the 'form' might look like, and how you will display the result.
...but I have no idea how I would go about this. :(

Good luck

[Jeff Mott]

@kevbusby

I also went to school for computer science and software development, and like you, I feel like it was a complete waste. Web development doesn't seem to adapt well to the classroom. This is a field where the best tend to be self-taught by reading books and manuals, by tracing through others' code that is well crafted, and by trying new ideas in your own pet projects.

For books, I can try to offer a few recommendations:

http://www.amazon.com/CSS-Missing-David-Sawyer-McFarland/dp/0596802447
http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Patterns-Stoyan-Stefanov/dp/0596806752
http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Experts-Source/dp/143022925X
http://www.amazon.com/ASP-NET-Framework-Experts-Voice-NET/dp/1430228865

A couple more for bonus credit:

http://www.amazon.com/High-Performance-Web-Sites-Essential/dp/0596529309
http://www.amazon.com/Building-Scalable-Web-Sites-Applications/dp/0596102356

Note, however, that I may be throwing you in the deep end with this selection. I'm assuming you want to get up to speed as quickly as possible, and this may be the way to do that. I also tried to pick books that focus on design patterns, because I think good software architecture is one of the most crucial skills, and that skill carries over to any language.

But most of all, you want to make sure you end up in a job that you're happy with. This might be a good time to reflect on whether this is the right field for you. When I was starting out, I remember how excited I was to read even the most dry of computer books. To me, it felt like a page turner. And it probably needs to feel that way for you too. The web changes fast, and even the best developers need to be hungry and excited to learn new things every day. If that isn't something you enjoy, then this may not be the job you'd enjoy.

But there are always other options. For instance, people I knew from school went on to become technical recruiters or managers, and they enjoy going to work each day. Try to keep an open mind. Apply to a more diverse range of jobs, and you may stumble into the dream job you didn't even know you wanted.

[Jeff Mott]

Some tips that might help get you started with your test...

The first half of the description sounds to me like they're testing your object orientation skills. There would probably be a Warrior class, with three sub classes for Ninja, Samurai, and Brawler. The Warrior class would probably have getters and setters for name, health, attack, etc. Even the battle could be a class, so that you could write something like... b = new Battle(warrior1, warrior2); b.getWinner();

There's still a lot to flesh out, but hopefully this gives you some ideas to start from.

[kevbusby]

@kevbusby

But most of all, you want to make sure you end up in a job that you're happy with. This might be a good time to reflect on whether this is the right field for you. When I was starting out, I remember how excited I was to read even the most dry of computer books. To me, it felt like a page turner. And it probably needs to feel that way for you too. The web changes fast, and even the best developers need to be hungry and excited to learn new things every day. If that isn't something you enjoy, then this may not be the job you'd enjoy.

But there are always other options. For instance, people I knew from school went on to become technical recruiters or managers, and they enjoy going to work each day. Try to keep an open mind. Apply to a more diverse range of jobs, and you may stumble into the dream job you didn't even know you wanted.

thankyou i havnt really looked into other areas of work yet i may start doing that...and i wouldnt say that i am excited to read books but i do enjoy web development and would like to learn new things..im trying to self teach myself stuff while i look for work...i'll see how that goes