Final Java Questions

Recently, I read a blog post which talked how “stupid” today’s developers are. As an example, “the interviewed candidates claims that they are very good at core java and saying that we can’t add/remove elements to an ArrayList which is declared as final.” (Are Frameworks Making Developers Dumb?)

Funny, right? But it got me thinking.

How important is it really that someone knows this? With over 60K points on stackoverflow, I’m one of the most knowledgeable software developers in the world but there was a moment, when my brain stumbled over the question. I rarely use final in my code. So how much value does this information have? How often do I need this every day? Once per week? Month? Year? How much damage can the wrong answer cause?

While I agree that sound knowledge helps a lot, I see team mates struggle much less. They don’t know as much as I do but there is a demotivating effect here: If you know too much, every simple question triggers a flood of thoughts: What can go wrong? Didn’t we encounter this already? What’s the best solution?

Sometimes, there are two “best” solutions and missing any further input, I can get stuck in a deadlock. Which way to go?

Or the solution to a problem triggers a new problem which in turn triggers a third. Suddenly, I’m caught in a maelstrom of dread which overwhelms me: Every possible way out just causes more trouble.

So for me, knowledge isn’t everything. Some people are “just” decent developers but that should not stop you to hire them. Here are some other, valuable factors:

• How easily do they give up?
• How well do they play as a team? That doesn’t mean everyone has to be a “team player” (whatever that might be). But strengths and weaknesses of each individual should compensate each other. One guys likes to talk a lot, let him handle customers. The other guy likes to work alone, give him the hard tasks that need a lot of time and concentration.