Posted on February 10, 2017 by st8lupe — Leave a reply
Now that he had decided, his actions were quick.
That was the best for the company and for himself.
The HR manager that received the report came to YongHo.
“Hey, we even promoted you to Chief. How can you just go like this?”
“I don’t know! Ask Trump! This is for the best whether it’s for the company or for myself. I have no intentions in getting an American citizenship anyway, so I’m not in a situation where I can commute to the company for a long time in the first place.”
“*Sigh*……”
The HR manager heaved out a long sigh.
Software was something where one or two talented people could shake the entire system.
As such, the competition for talent between the companies was akin to war.
Moreover, due to the law known as Code 16600, no one in Silicon Valley could apply for the prohibition of competitive business to anyone.
Everyone’s eyes turn bloodshot red for the talents of other companies.
“You aren’t going to a competitor company, right?”
This place wasn’t the only internet shopping mall company. The HR manager’s worries were natural.
Rather than stealing and having talented people stolen, the rivaling companies even made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between themselves.
It was a type of ‘promise’ between the rival companies and had no legal power.
“It’s nothing like that. I’m going to a small startup company.”
“Well, it seems that you’ve already decided on it. So we can’t pull you back……”
The HR manager already looked as if he was in despair.
Silicon Valley was the haven of startups.
An intern may turn out to be a CEO the next day.
It was a very common thing for a startup to grow into a company of considerable scale.
“I’ll make sure about the takeover.”
“Okay.”
The HR manager didn’t drag it on and let him go. There was nothing like taking months of preparing for a takeover like in Korea. (T/N: Takeover in this sense is something Korean. In Korea the one that’s leaving has a difficult time after giving notice it makes it easier for the replacement. It’s like giving a 90 day notice of quitting, while having to inconvenience yourself because the companies try to squeeze more out of you before you leave.)
Like how being fired was very easy, moving jobs was just as easy.
YongHo’s movement became the trigger.
Like beads on a thread, Dave, James, and Jessie voiced their opinions in leaving. 1
Na DaeBang was someone YongHo brought anyway, so it was natural that he left together.
However, Dave’s group was something unexpected for the company.
An unexpected circumstance occurred, but there were no demerits.
Everything happened according to normal procedures.
The intra-company account was shut down, and access to the source was also denied.
However, they couldn’t stop rumors from spreading within the company.
Lucia, who heard it from somewhere, came to YongHo.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yeah, well.”
“Where are you going?”
“A startup called Vdec.”
“Can I go there as well?”
“Sorry?”
Lucia, who mumbled, spoke again with confidence.
“I also want to see whether I can go there or not.”
Lucia saw the difficult expression on YongHo’s face and bit her lips in understanding.
“It will be hard for a rookie like me. It’s not that I have good skills either……”
“I didn’t mean that……”
“Please look for me later. I will polish my skills here.”
YongHo silently nodded. He couldn’t forcefully bring on a completely new person that wasn’t skillful like Dave because he wasn’t the president of the company.
Lucia seemed satisfied with just his nod and left with a smile.
***
An unexpected week of break arrived.
A gap had occurred between the time he left the company and the time he would go to his new one.
Dave, of course, chose to go travelling.
“I decided to go with Jessie.”
“…Hyung-nim.”
Na DaeBang looked at Dave with truly envious eyes.
Now, they were a true couple. They acted as if they would marry soon.
Jessie also didn’t seem to dislike Dave acting that way.
“I’ll leave the house for one week so have a nice time together.”
Na DaeBang made a smile that seemed like he was on death’s door after seeing Dave’s lively figure.
It was already decided what he would do in that week since he was caught by YongHo.
Dave struck the final attack without hesitation.
“Although I’d like to stay behind, but Jessie likes me so much.”
“……”
Na DaeBang could only watch as Dave left the house.
Tap.
Behind him, YongHo tapped Na DaeBang’s shoulders.
“Well, then. We should raise our country’s position, no?”
Perhaps it was YongHo’s misconception, but Na DaeBang’s shoulders were slightly trembling.
They say to aim for something grand.
YongHo first set his objective as the red coder for both of them.
He thought that they could get into being a yellow or blue coder that way.
Moreover, even if both of them became red coders, it would be very difficult for Korea to become first in the rankings.
Just one.
If both of them got 6,000 points or more, there was a possibility.
The current highest ranker had 3,500 points.
If both YongHo and Na DaeBang acquired 6,000 points each, then it was possible for them to become 1st this month.
“There will be less time once we start going to the company, so you have to become a red coder within this week. Or else…”
“……”
Na DaeBang kept his silence. It was as if he was a resistance force against the tyrant known as YongHo.
Na DaeBang also wanted to go travelling; he had worked the whole time that he was in America. He didn’t want to spend the unexpected holiday coding 24/7.
“You can do anything if you become a red coder. But not before then.”
YongHo was very well aware that Na DaeBang was very good.
However, that wasn’t enough in his eyes.
Since this guy had followed him all the way to America, he had to make him one of the best programmers in the world.
“Tch.”
Complaining, Na DaeBang turned on the laptop and sat down. His concentration wasn’t inferior to YongHo in any way. He even had his innately talented mind.
Perhaps it was because Dave wasn’t in the house, but the house was very quiet.
‘Hmm……’
Biting off a piece of chocolate, YongHo scratched his head.
There were a variety of questions.
There were algorithm questions and questions where they had to optimize an already existing code.
There were also ones where an intentional bug was inserted and people had to solve it.
Such questions were given out at random.
‘20 points!’
Checking the results after uploading the code, he acquired the full 20 points again.
The piled up codes went over 1,000 when his username turned grey.
k-Coder.
His username changed.
He finally became a grey coder.
‘It’s easier than I expected.’
This happened within just 2 days.
This was only possible since he found this fun. It was fun to see the points increase.
Moreover, the rankings according to the points.
When he saw that his rank was rising, the fun multiplied.
It was only possible for YongHo who was known as cotaku (coding otaku).
Sneaking a glance, Na DaeBang was also focusing on the monitor.
‘He’s doing well.’
Unlike what YongHo was thinking, Na DaeBang was thinking something completely different.
‘To think that he’d actually code for an entire two days… He’s insane.’
Na DaeBang himself never heard that he lacked passion when he was working.
He always heard:
You’re good.
You’re trying hard.
You have talent.
You’re amazing.
And other such praises.
However, in front of YongHo, he was nothing.
‘I really didn’t know it would turn out like this……’
He thought that YongHo was joking.
Red coder? What a joke.
Only 300 existed in the world.
300.
Getting within the top 300 in just Korea was plenty difficult.
And here, they had to compete with masters from America, China, Europe, Russia, and other countries.
‘Sheesh… He really is different.’
Na DaeBang also had a look at YongHo’s monitor.
YongHo’s points were just going over 1000. Since his own points amounted to 500, it was a difference of exactly two times.
‘He really is persistent……’
They didn’t even eat properly for the past two days and ate sandwiches, burgers, or pizzas while they were coding.
Picking up the sandwich on the side, YongHo made another room.
“Phewww……”
He rubbed his sleepy eyes. Looking at who just came in after he rubbed his eyes, the red text caught his eyes.
‘Chen’
It was just four letters, but the red name left a deep impression on him.
This was the first red coder that he encountered.
‘How good would this guy be?’
He once won against Mark while drinking alcohol and ever since then, he had never competed against Jeff in such a way. There was no standard that he could base himself on.
Only 300 red coders existed in the world.
If he won against this person then he would be able to numerically evaluate himself.
The question was to find bugs which YongHo had the most confidence in.
If he looked at the bug window, then he would finish it within five minutes.
However, he didn’t do that.
This was an opportunity where he could measure his own ability.
The question was a common memory-related bug.
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
Since the language he selected was java, a java bug was given.
This meant that the memory allocation went over the limit.
‘So it’s an optimization problem.’
The bug had something to do with the optimization of the program.
Although the questions were divided according to categories, some categories were fused as the allocated points became higher.
‘Do I need to use the GC……’
Something called the JVM(Java Virtual Machine) managed the memory of a program written in Java (PR/N: For those of you who don’t know, it let’s you run java programs.).
Even within JVM, something called the GC(Garbage Collection) allocated and freed up the memory.
GC must never be called by the programmer.
If one called the GC, then the memory may be freed, but all activities would stop there.
Normally, a program could multi-task like reading your phone while brushing your teeth.
However, the moment GC is called, it would only do the process of freeing up memory.
‘Since he’s a red coder… I need to do at least that much.’
A while ago, he had an opportunity to find out about optimization while editing the compression module library.
If he didn’t have such an experience, he would have never thought about using the GC.
He would have tried to solve the bug by assigning ‘null’ in suitable places.
‘Let’s try it.’
YongHo started coding in a nonsensical way.
Submit.
He submitted the source code, but he was a step behind.
‘…As expected of a red coder.’
There were four in the room altogether.
Chen.
k-Coder.
Peter.
Tita.
This was the order of submission.
The results of chen’s source came up first.
Success : true
Status : 0
Execution time(ms) : 23
Peak memory used(kb) : 42345
Total Score : 7
There were no bugs, and the memory too, only 42 megabytes were used and overall, it showed a stable result.
However, something was strange.
The full amount of points were 20.
However, this person was only given 7.
YongHo calmed down his pounding heart and waited.
‘Is it my turn now?’
Success : true
Status : 0
Execution time(ms) : 23
Peak memory used : 42121
Total Score : 13
An additional 224kb was saved.
Thanks to that, YongHo could take the remaining points.
Continuing on, some text appeared on the screen.
Congratulations in becoming a blue coder.
This happened on the 4th day.
Posted on February 10, 2017 by st8lupe — Leave a reply
Now that he had decided, his actions were quick.
That was the best for the company and for himself.
The HR manager that received the report came to YongHo.
“Hey, we even promoted you to Chief. How can you just go like this?”
“I don’t know! Ask Trump! This is for the best whether it’s for the company or for myself. I have no intentions in getting an American citizenship anyway, so I’m not in a situation where I can commute to the company for a long time in the first place.”
“*Sigh*……”
The HR manager heaved out a long sigh.
Software was something where one or two talented people could shake the entire system.
As such, the competition for talent between the companies was akin to war.
Moreover, due to the law known as Code 16600, no one in Silicon Valley could apply for the prohibition of competitive business to anyone.
Everyone’s eyes turn bloodshot red for the talents of other companies.
“You aren’t going to a competitor company, right?”
This place wasn’t the only internet shopping mall company. The HR manager’s worries were natural.
Rather than stealing and having talented people stolen, the rivaling companies even made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between themselves.
It was a type of ‘promise’ between the rival companies and had no legal power.
“It’s nothing like that. I’m going to a small startup company.”
“Well, it seems that you’ve already decided on it. So we can’t pull you back……”
The HR manager already looked as if he was in despair.
Silicon Valley was the haven of startups.
An intern may turn out to be a CEO the next day.
It was a very common thing for a startup to grow into a company of considerable scale.
“I’ll make sure about the takeover.”
“Okay.”
The HR manager didn’t drag it on and let him go. There was nothing like taking months of preparing for a takeover like in Korea. (T/N: Takeover in this sense is something Korean. In Korea the one that’s leaving has a difficult time after giving notice it makes it easier for the replacement. It’s like giving a 90 day notice of quitting, while having to inconvenience yourself because the companies try to squeeze more out of you before you leave.)
Like how being fired was very easy, moving jobs was just as easy.
YongHo’s movement became the trigger.
Like beads on a thread, Dave, James, and Jessie voiced their opinions in leaving. 1
Na DaeBang was someone YongHo brought anyway, so it was natural that he left together.
However, Dave’s group was something unexpected for the company.
An unexpected circumstance occurred, but there were no demerits.
Everything happened according to normal procedures.
The intra-company account was shut down, and access to the source was also denied.
However, they couldn’t stop rumors from spreading within the company.
Lucia, who heard it from somewhere, came to YongHo.
“You’re leaving?”
“Yeah, well.”
“Where are you going?”
“A startup called Vdec.”
“Can I go there as well?”
“Sorry?”
Lucia, who mumbled, spoke again with confidence.
“I also want to see whether I can go there or not.”
Lucia saw the difficult expression on YongHo’s face and bit her lips in understanding.
“It will be hard for a rookie like me. It’s not that I have good skills either……”
“I didn’t mean that……”
“Please look for me later. I will polish my skills here.”
YongHo silently nodded. He couldn’t forcefully bring on a completely new person that wasn’t skillful like Dave because he wasn’t the president of the company.
Lucia seemed satisfied with just his nod and left with a smile.
***
An unexpected week of break arrived.
A gap had occurred between the time he left the company and the time he would go to his new one.
Dave, of course, chose to go travelling.
“I decided to go with Jessie.”
“…Hyung-nim.”
Na DaeBang looked at Dave with truly envious eyes.
Now, they were a true couple. They acted as if they would marry soon.
Jessie also didn’t seem to dislike Dave acting that way.
“I’ll leave the house for one week so have a nice time together.”
Na DaeBang made a smile that seemed like he was on death’s door after seeing Dave’s lively figure.
It was already decided what he would do in that week since he was caught by YongHo.
Dave struck the final attack without hesitation.
“Although I’d like to stay behind, but Jessie likes me so much.”
“……”
Na DaeBang could only watch as Dave left the house.
Tap.
Behind him, YongHo tapped Na DaeBang’s shoulders.
“Well, then. We should raise our country’s position, no?”
Perhaps it was YongHo’s misconception, but Na DaeBang’s shoulders were slightly trembling.
They say to aim for something grand.
YongHo first set his objective as the red coder for both of them.
He thought that they could get into being a yellow or blue coder that way.
Moreover, even if both of them became red coders, it would be very difficult for Korea to become first in the rankings.
Just one.
If both of them got 6,000 points or more, there was a possibility.
The current highest ranker had 3,500 points.
If both YongHo and Na DaeBang acquired 6,000 points each, then it was possible for them to become 1st this month.
“There will be less time once we start going to the company, so you have to become a red coder within this week. Or else…”
“……”
Na DaeBang kept his silence. It was as if he was a resistance force against the tyrant known as YongHo.
Na DaeBang also wanted to go travelling; he had worked the whole time that he was in America. He didn’t want to spend the unexpected holiday coding 24/7.
“You can do anything if you become a red coder. But not before then.”
YongHo was very well aware that Na DaeBang was very good.
However, that wasn’t enough in his eyes.
Since this guy had followed him all the way to America, he had to make him one of the best programmers in the world.
“Tch.”
Complaining, Na DaeBang turned on the laptop and sat down. His concentration wasn’t inferior to YongHo in any way. He even had his innately talented mind.
Perhaps it was because Dave wasn’t in the house, but the house was very quiet.
‘Hmm……’
Biting off a piece of chocolate, YongHo scratched his head.
There were a variety of questions.
There were algorithm questions and questions where they had to optimize an already existing code.
There were also ones where an intentional bug was inserted and people had to solve it.
Such questions were given out at random.
‘20 points!’
Checking the results after uploading the code, he acquired the full 20 points again.
The piled up codes went over 1,000 when his username turned grey.
k-Coder.
His username changed.
He finally became a grey coder.
‘It’s easier than I expected.’
This happened within just 2 days.
This was only possible since he found this fun. It was fun to see the points increase.
Moreover, the rankings according to the points.
When he saw that his rank was rising, the fun multiplied.
It was only possible for YongHo who was known as cotaku (coding otaku).
Sneaking a glance, Na DaeBang was also focusing on the monitor.
‘He’s doing well.’
Unlike what YongHo was thinking, Na DaeBang was thinking something completely different.
‘To think that he’d actually code for an entire two days… He’s insane.’
Na DaeBang himself never heard that he lacked passion when he was working.
He always heard:
You’re good.
You’re trying hard.
You have talent.
You’re amazing.
And other such praises.
However, in front of YongHo, he was nothing.
‘I really didn’t know it would turn out like this……’
He thought that YongHo was joking.
Red coder? What a joke.
Only 300 existed in the world.
300.
Getting within the top 300 in just Korea was plenty difficult.
And here, they had to compete with masters from America, China, Europe, Russia, and other countries.
‘Sheesh… He really is different.’
Na DaeBang also had a look at YongHo’s monitor.
YongHo’s points were just going over 1000. Since his own points amounted to 500, it was a difference of exactly two times.
‘He really is persistent……’
They didn’t even eat properly for the past two days and ate sandwiches, burgers, or pizzas while they were coding.
Picking up the sandwich on the side, YongHo made another room.
“Phewww……”
He rubbed his sleepy eyes. Looking at who just came in after he rubbed his eyes, the red text caught his eyes.
‘Chen’
It was just four letters, but the red name left a deep impression on him.
This was the first red coder that he encountered.
‘How good would this guy be?’
He once won against Mark while drinking alcohol and ever since then, he had never competed against Jeff in such a way. There was no standard that he could base himself on.
Only 300 red coders existed in the world.
If he won against this person then he would be able to numerically evaluate himself.
The question was to find bugs which YongHo had the most confidence in.
If he looked at the bug window, then he would finish it within five minutes.
However, he didn’t do that.
This was an opportunity where he could measure his own ability.
The question was a common memory-related bug.
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError
Since the language he selected was java, a java bug was given.
This meant that the memory allocation went over the limit.
‘So it’s an optimization problem.’
The bug had something to do with the optimization of the program.
Although the questions were divided according to categories, some categories were fused as the allocated points became higher.
‘Do I need to use the GC……’
Something called the JVM(Java Virtual Machine) managed the memory of a program written in Java (PR/N: For those of you who don’t know, it let’s you run java programs.).
Even within JVM, something called the GC(Garbage Collection) allocated and freed up the memory.
GC must never be called by the programmer.
If one called the GC, then the memory may be freed, but all activities would stop there.
Normally, a program could multi-task like reading your phone while brushing your teeth.
However, the moment GC is called, it would only do the process of freeing up memory.
‘Since he’s a red coder… I need to do at least that much.’
A while ago, he had an opportunity to find out about optimization while editing the compression module library.
If he didn’t have such an experience, he would have never thought about using the GC.
He would have tried to solve the bug by assigning ‘null’ in suitable places.
‘Let’s try it.’
YongHo started coding in a nonsensical way.
Submit.
He submitted the source code, but he was a step behind.
‘…As expected of a red coder.’
There were four in the room altogether.
Chen.
k-Coder.
Peter.
Tita.
This was the order of submission.
The results of chen’s source came up first.
Success : true
Status : 0
Execution time(ms) : 23
Peak memory used(kb) : 42345
Total Score : 7
There were no bugs, and the memory too, only 42 megabytes were used and overall, it showed a stable result.
However, something was strange.
The full amount of points were 20.
However, this person was only given 7.
YongHo calmed down his pounding heart and waited.
‘Is it my turn now?’
Success : true
Status : 0
Execution time(ms) : 23
Peak memory used : 42121
Total Score : 13
An additional 224kb was saved.
Thanks to that, YongHo could take the remaining points.
Continuing on, some text appeared on the screen.
Congratulations in becoming a blue coder.
This happened on the 4th day.
