Saturday, December 03, 2005

Thanksgiving in NYC, Ideal Car and NFL

I had been to New York for Thanksgiving and it was a dream come true. New York is probably one of the most buzzing and active cities in the world. NYC is known for all its hype, action, media etc. but what struck me the most is that living in NYC is just like being part of an high octane action movie. If you live in the city (especially downtown Manhattan), you will not be surprised why you hear the term "City that never sleeps" tagged to New York. I must term my trip as adventurous especially considering the fact that we( Myself and 2 of my friends whom i met at my workplace) drove past Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania before we reached the Big Apple. The best part of the road trip was it was unplanned and we had our share of close shaves and crazy occurences. We had to drive through the Pocono Mountain Range and exactly at the time we drove around the area, there was a snowstorm with almost zero visibility. Add the weather drama to my road-wingmen snoring in the car and you see the darker side of roadtrip adventure. Despite all the driving hazzles, we made it after 15 hrs of night driving on white tar with lots of caffeine seeping through our veins. Driving in NY Downtown was one more challenge left to encounter at the end of our night driving saga and soon I felt i was driving in India. Taxis drive like Auto-rickshaws and I bet that no cop in downtown every handed a speeding ticket with the traffic over there. We took this road trip to meet our pals mainly to avoid expensive Thanksgiving flights and partially also for the kicks only a roadtrip can give. Can you guess what part sucked the most(of the trip): PARKING in Manhattan for 3 days cost us $120. The best part of the visit though was not seeing the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty or Times Square but it was the time I spend with my buddies and laughing our ass off at the live comedy act at Comedy Cellar close to NYU. Sometimes, it is the simple things in life that we ignore or take for granted are the most memorable moments of our life... for example hanging out with friends, laughing aloud like hyenas, eating food of a different cuisine, taking the train from one town to another, the quick walk from one building to another in the freezing cold. I realised that vacation is not only about visiting places but enjoying the most common stuff we miss doing during our weekly work routine or the weekend.

Zen and the art of Car Decisions :

Just when i thought i found the ideal car in Acura TSX ,my new roommate bought a Honda Accord for almost $25K and his statement about the difference between Accord and Acura TSX inspired me to search about Accord. Accord fits the bill of a family sedan perfectly but doesn't give the sporty feel of the Acura TSX. As a result it's performance is not comparable to the TSX. However if the price is the most important criterion , then Accord is a great buy. My logic goes like this: If i can pay $25K, it should not be too much of a hassle on my living if i get my ideal luxury car for $30K. You live only once and so its imperative you enjoy your life while you can.

Now to write my own Analysis Section of the NFL( sorry Peter King) - Sunday Evening Running Back:

Ladainian Tomlinson( a.k.a LT a.a.a greatest running back ever ) was proclaimed as the best running back (of all-time)in football by his coach-Marty Schottenheimer. Since Marty was a defensive coach for a long time before becoming head coach, the statement holds lot of value. Last year, Denver's coach Mike Shanahan made a statement that LT is the best running back he has seen in the NFL. Why do so many coaches and analysts concur on this statement by Mike(Not everyone will agree with Marty)? It is because LT gives so many options when you hand the ball to him. He is San Diego's #1 Offensive Weapon as he can run, catch and throw the ball. Why is his skills so great? It is not because he can run fast or make you silly on an open field but his ability to make you miss in short spaces that separate him from all other running backs i have seen or probably will see. He has had some great runs during his career but since i follow his success and failure closely, I observed that his best run of the season was the 8 yd TD run against New England where he was so close to the ground but never went down on multiple contacts. He showed to me that he can gain those tough yards and still make home runs possible. Last week against the Washington Redskins defense, he stiff armed a redskin linebacker on his way to a touchdown which to me was one of hardest things to do for a running back his size and speed. This run coupled with the move against Ty Law which made him look silly just made me think "Marty finally made the media notice something they were waiting for a big name coach to announce." I have only one question for LT? If you are the best running back in football why dont you have 100 yard games for about 13 of the 16 weeks in the regular season. LT is a great running back but is not as consistent as Walter Payton or Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders. Until he reaches the level of consistency of 100 yd-2 TD performances every week i will not accept LT as the best running back of all time although all of us know he has the talent to be the greatest.

Heading to the significant games on unoffcially NFL's "Rivalry Weekend":

Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants: This is the most important game of the week. I think the Cowboys are overrated and they will struggle to beat New York. I am really concerned of the Giants defense but Cowboys dont have an offense to light up the scoreboard. So the Giants should win unless they dont screw it up like they did in Seattle.

Cincinatti Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers: I like Cincinnatti in this game despite all the criticism that they cant win the big game against the Steelers. I think we need a change in dominance and I would love to see Chad Johnson in the playoffs.

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
: The biggest challenge for Denver is whether they can keep their "Most Disciplined Team" tag going for one more game. If they can, no Willie Roaf or Larry Johnson can help KC. Denver has a better overall team than KC and should win despite all the history of December games at Arrowhead against them. If the Broncos lose this game, the Colts fans better start booking their flight to Detroit in February.

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers: Vick has tormented the Panthers in the past. This time though Steve Smith will torment the Falcons. Say goodbye to Michael Vick and his 2005 playoff hopes.

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears: Chicago has the best defense of the year and also has the better team in the matchup. Sorry Brett, despite your mastery of QB position , beating Chicago in Chicago especially with the current GB team is a tall task. Watch out for Chicago in the playoffs-they may enter the NFC championship game in January.

Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers : Can Oakland stop LT at home? Can Randy Moss start to show up? Watch out for Kerry Collins air attack on the San Diego corners. I want to see another great LT run in the playoffs and so I would have taken the Superchargers any time

+ a.a.a stands for Also Annointed As

Enjoy your weekend!

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Car Shopping, Mid Season Awards!

I am Car Gazing for some time now as i plan to sell my 1998 Honda Civic for a new Car and its been a hard to decide on a new Car.I am totally confused on what car to buy. Initially i thought i will go for a beamer-BMW 3 series looked cool and then i calculate the expenses i need to pay to maintain the car: $600 loan + $200 insurance + $200 gas ...oooph...and there goes $1000 of my salary. I then scaled down after my colleagues, well-wishers and also my mental calculator let me decide that lesser loan to pay is the way to go. Considering the possibility that i may sell the car in 3-4 years i had to consider depreciation value. Here were the factors i looked at:

1) Looks
2) Comfort
3) Driving Experience
4) Standard Features
5) Cargo Room[ Especially considering that i may do some road trips]

I am comparing the new Honda Civic 2006 with Subaru Impreza 2.5 L Si, Toyota Scion tC, Acura RSX and Mazda 3 and Scion Tc. So far, my favorite has been the Scion tC.I test drove a Scion TC and I was flabbergasted by its speed at low rpms. It has amazing brakes, great steering control, look and feel and the only drawback being cargo space. Next week will be time for some actual hands on experience comparison.

Sports Update:

NFL Tidbits:

Peyton Manning got over the hump on MNF? Yes he did. I am still not convinced about Indy's defense. How good are they will be known when they face the Cincinniti Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers! I still think they are the best team in the league till proven otherwise.

My Mid Season Awards:

MVP: Peyton Manning/Steve Smith. If i were giving this award, i would give it to Steve Smith but Peyton will win it because voters prefer QBs

Offensive MVP: Steve Smith. You remove him from Carolina and their offense is as good as dirt

Defensive MVP: Dwight Freeney. He has single handedly troubled all quarterbacks and made Indy's defense look menacing.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Ronnie Brown

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Demarcus Ware

Comeback Player of the Year: Steve Smith. I considered Mark Brunell, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Mike Anderson but SS impact is too significant compared to the others.

Coach of the Year: Mike Shanahan. Check out all the preseason ratings of AFC West. Whether it was ESPN or SI.com or anyone else, nobody thought that Denver will succeed with the Cleveland Castoffs in defensive line. Tom Coughlin was a close second. I think he has done a great job in NYC but if you look at the schedule- Denver beat SD,NE,Philly,Jacksonville,Washington[ All possible playoff teams]

Surprise Team of the Year: Cincinatti Bengals. Giants are close second.

Disappointment of the Year: New England Patriots/ Philadelphia Eagles.

Watch out for next year- T.O will have a new team and contract.

NBA Observations:

Entire League to Mr Stern: Please hand the trophy to the Spurs. Lets all play for academic interest and for showing off our suits.

Regaring Miami Heat: Mr. Riley- why do you think everyone was surprised at the roster makeover?

Surprises: LA teams winning and Nuggets losing:)

Predictions of the year: Lebron finally will make the playoffs and Carmelo Anthony may be an All-Star.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Why Champ is the real Champ!

Last Sunday, Denver Broncos played Jacksonville Jaguars and it was the first game Champ Bailey missed as a starter due to injury. I have followed the footbal circles of Denver Broncos for quite a while and I did not know much about Champ's skills till he came to Denver. Since then I watched the following elite cornerbacks:
Chris McCallister, Ty Law, Patrick Surtain, Dre Bly, Troy Vincent, Nate Clements, Lito Sheppard, Samari Rolle, Dunta Robinson,Gary Baxter, Fred Smoot, Shawn Springs and some more. I have not see Deion Sanders in his prime, hence I will state that this article covers last 2-3 years span only.

I thought when Champ came to Denver and I saw his first game as a Bronco,he was really over-hyped. I kept observing Champ each and every game, constantly comparing him to the other corners. After 2 years of observation I can safely say that Champ Bailey is the true "Champ" of all corners in NFL today.

What makes a great Cornerback( Guy who covers the Wide Receiver):
1) He has to be Physical and Strong
2) Quick feet and Recovery Speed on slight errors in judgement
3) Positioning and Poise
4) Anticipation
5) Ability to tackle/blitz effectively when required

I analyzed and rated each cornerback on the above factors on a scale of 1-10. After my observation, Champ Bailey got a 9, 10, 10, 9, 10 on the 5 factors above and McCallister is the next best at 10,9,9,9,9. I wont divulge details of all other corners unless specifically requested.

Most of you may argue with my analysis, but take a consensus judgement from Wide Receivers, Quarterbacks, Coaches in that order and you will see Champ will be right on top of most of them, if not all.

I am also impressed by Champ's leadership qualities evident in the Jacksonville game encouraging the rookie cornerbacks in the game and also helping them on their technique. My hats off to you Champ Bailey.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

The last few weeks at work and the world of NFL!

It has been the most unforgettable month of my life. This is partly because work has kept me so much occupied that i cancelled my workout schedule i planned to have. We had a delivery date on Friday and it was m first big responsibility. My team lead was out on vacation and it meant more load on me and my other colleagues shoulders and also an opportunity for me to showcase my abilities. I must admit that i did ok and I have lots of room for improvement.
Lesson for life i learned last few weeks:
1) Prioritize- My best pal in Foster City, Ca has been constantly emphasizing me on this. Though i will keep her name anonymous, her words of professional advice echo in my head all the time :)
2) Take every thing one step at a time-however big your goal is, look at the very next step, try to achieve that keeping your goal in perspective and then reevaluate your goal.
3) Promise only what you deliver, and give room to satisfy your promise, expect the worst case scenario and make the best case happen.

With all this advice to myself and others who read this, i feel i am aging too quickly :) However, my love for sports and movies dont ever diminish.

I saw Kill Bill Vol 2 for the 3rd time last week and every time i see a QT movie, i become a more ardent fan of his. His movies have some rare addiction, that sleek style that no other director has that makes his movies worth-buy DVDs. I also saw average comedy flicks like Taxi and Starsky + Hutch. But the movie that made my week was 21 grams. Its a classic. For those who love great movies, add this one to your list.

Regarding my NFL analysis after week 4:
AFC Teams:
Bengals,Colts,Denver,SanDiego,New England(Jacksonville),Pittsburg are going to come out of AFC.
Philadelphia, Falcons, Giants( or Carolina), Seattle, Chicago(or Minnesotta) and Tampa Bay will come out of NFC.

Offensive MVP of the year(so far): Carson Palmer
Defensive MVP of the year(so far and may be all the way): Dwight Freeney[ He is a monster to cover]
Special Teams MVP: Adam Vinateri[or David Akers]

My early impressions of AFC:
AFC West: The Broncos and Chargers will be top contenders. Chiefs lost to Broncos on MNF and Philly at home. I dont think they will win the West. Raiders dont have enough weapons other than Moss/Lamont Jordan.

AFC South:
Colts all the way. Jaguars dont have a reliable run defense or a consistent offense.

AFC East: New England or Miami. I hope the champs enter the playoffs. Lets see if Peyton can answer them now?

AFC North:Its either "Who dey" or Blitzburg. I think "who dey" bengals will make the playoffs this year either winning the division or as wildcarders.

NFC:

Except Eagles, Falcons, Panthers are the best teams. No one else has a legit superbowl chance. Less talk on them the better.

Most dissappointing teams of the season( so far):
1. Packers
2. Ravens
3. Vikings

Surprise-Surprise teams of the season( so far):
1. "Who-dey" Bengals
2. "Cadillac" Bucs
3. Sabphins
4. Browncos[ The Browns coaching staff must be scratching their heads now for letting their D-line go]

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Why is marketing important!

Since I am from India, I see some similarities and lots of differences in marketing strategies of companies in USA. As we all realize that money makes everything tick in any country, we should annoint it as the new religion. With money being the focal point, how can marketing a product go a long way in making more money. It all starts with establishing a consumer base. I asked myself why does a particular product sell? When it comes to excellent marketing strategy, experts use Microsoft Xboxes, Apple iPods, Motorola RAZR or even VIAGRA as examples.

Let me cite an example most of us feel - "have seen, been there, had that". The company is JAMBA JUICE. I dont know how many who read this article havent been there, but according to me, its a classic example of great marketing. What is Jamba Juice? Please Google it and you will learn how to get "positively charged" by Juice...sounds ridiculous to some but its true that this is what Jamba Juice is all about. How do they appeal to the masses?:
1) Having sleek names like Strawberry Nirvana, Orange Dream Machine, Mango Mantra, Cranberry Craze, Aloha Pineapple etc
2) Entice the viewer with nutrients added, protein supplements added and carbs gained
3) Good tasting juice.
4) Create a nice coffee-shop kind of environment.[ If Starbucks was a success, so can be Jamba Juice]

I went into this Jamba Juice store last weekend and I was amazed with the crowd it drew. There were school kids, teenagers, few youngsters in the 20-30 age range and also some middle aged people. It then occurred to me how a small juice store could transform into a million dollar business. Good marketing is a result of catering to the needs of the consumer base. Jamba Juice realised that youngsters were the primary market. Marketing is a result of paying attention to detail. For example, if Jamba Juice had most of the factors i mentioned but lacked the coffee-shop kind of environment, the company would have been a bust.

Principle to follow: When there is a Demand, Supply to the Demand with great marketing

More to follow in my next post!

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Freedom of Speech!

Topics of Discussion: Computers and NBA Finals

Starting off with Computers-All XML and C++ geeks out there, it would be great if someone wrote a book on how to program with XML and C++. I found it surprising that the best sources for XML for COM programming is MSXML, PerfectXML.com. If you are an intuitive and avid programmer, there are lots of information in MSXML SDK documentation on MSDN. However it is better if you learn the XML structure on your own. I promised a post on SAX and DOM. I havent researched enough to have a post dedicated for it yet, but i will put it some time. I believe programmers, developers and testers have to share knowledge and that is the best way that we all learn from somebody else.I will share my experiences here in due time.

Topic of the Day:

I had to get this blog out before NBA 2005 Finals Game 7 started. Its the final game of the season and according to my prediction before the series(Spurs in 6), Spurs should have been having their victory parade now. It seems like we always underestimate champions who are not flashy for example: New England Patriots in Football, Houston Rockets of the 94-95 season, Detroit Pistons[Bad Boys of the early 90s] and also the current lot. Its unbelievable how much we all love watching the game of NBA more for the dunks, Jordanesque moves of Kobe/Wade/Lebron but not the way the game is played. Since I played basketball and enjoy defense, I must admit this is an NBA finals we got to cherish for a long time.

What are the surprises?
1. Every writer talked about the 4 blowouts[Games 1,2,3 and 4] but my biggest surprise has to be Tim Duncan's unTimmy like performance!

2. Detroit's Stamina: They have played the highest number of playoff games with mainly 7-8 players in rotation and thats amazing.

3. San Antonio's inability to control the paint!

4. Tony Parker hasn't still learnt to handle pressure [ look on the other team's point guard for inspiration]

What are the keys for tonights game?
1. Tim Duncan's performance is probably going to be the most crucial factor
2. Mental makeup of San Antonio-how will they respond to pressure?
3. Will Detroits offense freeze? They have offensive droughts like they had against the Indiana Pacers
4. Bench Play: Which bench will have more hustle in rebounds and hustle plays

Matchup that will decide the championship:
Billups,Hamilton vs Parker,Ginobili!- If Parker doesnt match Billups control or Ginobili doesnt lead the flow of the game, San Antonio can say goodbye to what history says[ Read-No team has ever won 2 road games to win a championship and Spurs dont lose 2 straight at home].

My prediction: San Antonio Spurs[i would say i give 51% chance to them as they are the home team and 49% as Detroit will find it hard to match the same intensity as the last game away from home)

MVP: Tim Duncan[ I wish NBA Commissioner gives MVP to the best player of the series rather than the winning team MVP.In either case I think Billups should repeat as NBA Finals MVP]

Note: Detroit is the mentally and physically the stronger team and I will be least surprised if they won!

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Busy week!

It has been a busy week with a race to learn as well as perform at work. I have learnt a lot of XML stuff in the past week or so. So much so that I can claim that XSLT is one of the most powerful tools available in the XML world. Allows you to transform data to XML, HTML, Text, PDF , you name the document format amd it does it.

For those who are newbies to XML. You will find lots of tutorials on XML and Parsing it. Things most tutorials lack is- Completeness of Description. I found http://www.PerfectXML.com and http://www.topxml.com/ very helpful in terms the learning phase and how to do stuff. I used the Microsoft MSXML parser. It is a great parser, very fast and efficient in XML processing but has its limitations. As most XML buffs know,there are 2 different parsing types-DOM( Tree based)parsing and SAX(event based)parsing. One thing I realised was Microsoft MSXML parser is strongly DOM oriented. It doesnt mean,you can't do SAX parsing, but you cannot use SAX to do XSLT transformations. By this I mean the MSXML XSLT processor cannot take the SAX model as input as it requires the DOM structure of the document to transform the document. Thanks to Stuart Celarier ( http://www.ferncrk.com), I realized this fact :).

If you want to do basic XML parsing without need to remember whatever happened as you traversed the nodes, use the SAX parser else use the DOM parser. More on SAX and DOM in the next blog.

Now for my sports blog:
Topic of the Day? Steve Nash voted MVP! Isnt this the hardest choice voters have to decide? What were Shaq's numbers vs his average yearly performance? What are Nash's numbers versus his numbers in Dallas? What about AI? How about Lebron James? How about KG or Nowitski? I love AI and what he has done and i know that NBA is too partial on winning teams but isnt that the case in most sports. Both Shaq and Nash improved in points per Game. Nash had an increase in his Assist numbers from 2003-04 season. So what? wasnt he expected to? especially with the rotation of big men and shooters he has around Phoenix, it was obvious that his numbers would be up. Now what i cant really understand is how voting is done on this? Is the NBA MVP Award a marketing gimmick? Let us defend the point guard who cant defend?Take the MVP winners in the last 10 years: Shaq/Duncan/KG/Malone/Jordan/AI. Is there any player among this list whom you would replace as a coach if the opponent has the last possession? Steve Nash is always replaced on the Suns' last defensive stand. If there was a pickup game and you had the entire NBA to pick from who would you pick first? I would pick Shaq first and then think of Kobe/T-Mac. The voters always honor somebody who brings a huge change or somebody who would be a fresh story in the media. Consider this-Shaq left the Lakers and the Lakers didnt even make the playoffs; Nash left Mavericks and their record improved to 58 games. Consider this: Replace Steve Nash with Jason Kidd on Phoenix and do you think Kidd wouldnt take Suns to a similar record? You remove Wade and Miami still has a chance to enter the Finals.I know Dwayne Wade has done an amazing job for Miami, but Shaq has made them a championship team. You remove Shaq and Miami is not a championship team! On the filpside, Nash is a great player, great distributor, controller of the game but his defensive liability tips Shaq for my vote.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Things are getting a little bit more intense!

As midyear approaches, deadlines approach...meaning higher intensity. My work deadlines get tighter by the day and NBA playoffs keep me awake till 2 a.m. This is by far the most athletic playoff season i have seen in a long time. Houston vs Dallas and Denver vs San Antonio are as my blog says the 2 best series of the playoffs. Boston vs Indiana, Chicago vs Washington have been interesting but nothing compares to my top 2. Let me rate the first round of playoffs based on intensity and game-closeness:

1) Houston vs Dallas
2) Denver vs SanAntonio
3) Sacramento vs Seattle
4) Boston vs Indiana
5) Detroit vs AI( i would rather take AI over the entire roster)
6) Wade+sidekicks vs Nets
7) Bulls vs Wizards( all games were blowouts even though the score is 2-2)
8) Sun Guns Grizzlies ( Was this even a matchup....I wish Minnesota played better).

My second round predictions are straightforward:
1) Dallas vs Suns :
2) Spurs vs Sonics:
3) Detroit vs Boston
4) Miami vs Bulls.

Seems like the whole schedule is going according to what the commissioner predicted. As everyone expects: Phoenix will face San Antonio in West and Detroit will face Miami. I wont predict further till i see the injury status.

Denver(my favorite) Nuggets fell short in overtime today falling to 3-1. The key difference i thought was not lack of effort, but a poor game by Kenyon Martin and Andre Miller and little coaching blunders by George Karl. George allowed the game to drift a little towards SanAntonio before taking timeouts whereas Pop took whenever Denver was threatening to run. Score changed from 61-57 SanAntonio to 61-61...and Pop took a timeout. Karl let the game go away to almost 10 point leads by SanAntonio before calling time. Denver will improve next year for sure..but was Kenyon Martin worth 90 million dollars? This is my big question to Kiki and Stan Kroenke. Denver needs a good shooter and another good rebounder to support Camby. Martin is not a consistent Power Forward and I think shows off his antics more than playing ball. Tim Duncan needs to serve a coaching manual to play Basketball and talk less to him.
Watch this space for more playoff tidbits!

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

XML rocks and so do the Phoenix Suns!

Whoever invented XML did a great service to the WWW and otherwise. Some things go so unnoticed and it is these little inventions that matter a lot to all of us. I am writing XML Schemas, using stylesheets to convert them, writing complex xml files and I would say that this invention kicks ass! If anyone is a newbie out there writing schemas, Google is the best resource for almost everything i found. I also used A9.com to read through some stuff in the books.

As I am an avid sports fan, the NBA playoffs( as of today) seem to be set in the western conference and a little undecided regarding who plays Miami Heat.
Western Conference Matchups and my predictions:
1) Phoenix Suns vs Memphis Grizzlies
Winner: Suns
Why?

Phoenix can fail only if Steve Nash is injured and Memphis is totally inspired else they have too many weapons. They are the #1 scoring offense in the league and nobody but Dallas/SanAntonio can push them in a 7 game series. Grizzlies have good defense and a good bench but hard to stop the desert runners.

2) SanAntonio Spurs vs Denver Nuggets
Winner: Tim Duncan plays - Spurs else Nuggets
Why?

One of the best defenses in the league + Duncan makes them an amazing combo but Denver has a chance to upset SanAntonio if Camby plays and Denver is able to run the ball well. Even with Duncan i think Denver can give them a good fight. But Duncan is not playing completely fit and if Denver wins 1 of the 2 road games in the beginning, they have a great chance. I predict this to be the second best series in the west

3) Seattle Supersonics vs Sacramento Kings
Winner: Supersonics
Why?

Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Danny Fortson, Reggie Evans...do we need more reasons? especially with an injured Kings roster. I feel sorry for Rick Adelman, one of the best coaches in the league that something always prevents him from reaching the finals.

4) Dallas Mavericks vs Houston Rockets
Winner: Mavericks
Why?

Nowitzki, Dampier, Stackhouse, Howard vs Houston defense- This is gonna be the playoff series of the First round. It will be the hardest fought, but i predict Dallas to cut through.

Hope the best teams win! My next blog will answer the Eastern Conference predictions

Friday, February 04, 2005

Tidbits of interview questions!

Some questions i always get:
1) Why didnt Java introduce Operator Overloading?
2) Why C++ structs was extended to behave like public classes?

I wonder why interviewers always pose the following questions in C++/Java:

1) What does the virtual destructor mean and why is it necessary?
2) What problems do you get by Multiple inheritance?
3) Difference between String and StringBuffer in Java?
4) How do you implement a linked list in java?
5) Difference between delete n and delete [] n ?
6) what is the difference between interface and an abstract class in Java? when would you use interface and when do you use an abstract class?

Routine concepts i suppose. It's like saying...hey i know syntax. A good interviewer always tests you on "how to implement something". I enjoyed interviewing with Microsoft, Google,Amazon and Qualcomm as they test your translation of idea to code. Not many companies i have interviewed do that. Most of them ask about your resume and questions related to skill set. I think its good to a certain extent without the need to overdo it. Unfortunately some companies still do it.

I will write some tutorials in my next few posts.