Roy Tang

Someone on quora asked:

How do I identify a good programmer? Do I start learning how to code so it is easily identifiable?

Learning to code is not strictly necessary. It would be sufficient to simply have an understanding of how programs execute step-by-step instructions and algorithms. If you’re interviewing programmers, you can simply give them a moderately complex problem and ask them to verbally walk through / explain to you how they would approach the problem (you yourself would need to understand how the problem is typically solved). Sorting algorithms for example, can easily be explained with a few whiteboard diagrams instead of writing code

The larger problem is that it is never easy to identify a good programmer. Even for people who do know how to code! The best way to identify a good programmer is actually to work with them on a project, but of course that option is unlikely during an interview. In general look for high-level skills: ability to step through the solution to a problem (and explain it well), ability to spot possible problems in a given solution (you might try describing a problem you encountered in a previous project and ask how he would address it), ability to work well with others, etc