jack_indigo wrote:Here were some of the
interview questions I recall for this gig:
1. Do you know what the box model is in regards to browsers?
Most importantly, IE uses a different box model than the rest of the browsers. It usually requires some tricky code to make sure that everyone's box models are consistent.
{I had heard this, but bombed it. I then asked if he could provide a hint and I would be able to explain. He then started talking about padding, margins, and borders, and I said, oh -- margins add space on the outside of a box, padding on the inside, and borders on the outside.}
2. What does quirks mode mean?
{I said I didn't know exactly, but thought it meant a state in IE where it defaults to HTML 4?}
Quirks Mode refers to any browsers pre-w3c compliant implementations of HTML/CSS. See http://www.quirksmode.org/css/quirksmode.html
3. Why might I use a DOCTYPE?
4. Describe some features of XSL.
{This hit me from left field because I didn't know the job required use of it. However, I used it back in 2001 only briefly, so I said that and said it might take me a couple days to relearn it. I said in general it's a template language to convert something from one data format like XML into another format like XHTML.}
5. What are some ways you know of to reduce page load speed?
6. Why might I use or not use sprites?
{I bombed this one because I told him I had only read this one 2 days ago and knew it had something to do with images, but had forgotten what else was interesting about it.}
Sprites, by my familiarity are simply small graphics which can be used several times. What were they shooting for?
7. What kinds of addons do you use to help debug a XHTML, CSS, or Javascript? (And after I mentioned my answer -- ) Any tools besides YSlow or Firebug?
Firefox web developer toolbar, FF also has a built-in javascript console.
8. How may I handle people with a disability with my website?
Hooray CSS!
9. What kinds of reasons are there why I might put an image in my CSS versus in the XTHML?
Mobile devices, printing, accessibility... again, I love my CSS.
10. When might I need to minify my CSS?
11. Describe some levels of minifying CSS.
12. Why might I use multiple CSS files as opposed to one or two?
All interesting CSS questions, those.
13. Why might I use an ID versus a class on an XHTML element?
14. Describe some differences between HTML 4.01 Transitional and XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
15. Describe some differences between XHTML 1.0 Transitional and XHTML 1.0 Strict.
16. With jQuery, how might I handle like a click on an image if I wanted that?
17. Why might I use onclick versus, say, jQuery to handle it?
{I gave him a couple answers on this and said basically it depends on what you're trying to do. I don't know if he liked that answer or not.}
My thought would be weight on the processing machine. onclick is a much faster way to trigger a blatantly simple event than having all of jQuery execute.
18. Name some WCAG 1.0 or 2.0 guidelines you know.
{Luckily I had studied this the night before based on your recommendations, guys. I also had the screen open on my page.}
I'd have been in deep doo-doo with this one. I had to look it up to realize what the acronym meant!
19. In Javascript, what is a prototype?
{I told him that all I could think was that it was Javascript's way of making a kind of class, but admitted that with jQuery I am abstracted from having to deal with this and mostly I just deal with jQuery. I don't know if he liked that answer or not.}
You don't think he maybe was referring to the prototype framework?
20. Are you aware of how many connections a browser can open back to the web server at a time?
21. Do you know what a reset.css is? (And when I answered, he asked --) Why is it a good idea to use it?
22. How do you declare font sizes in your XHTML?
{I told him to take a reset.css and set font sizes to 62.5%, and then inside the page use ems, with 1em being roughly 10px, and then use a chart for every other point size I might want. He said that was an excellent answer -- that's what they use.}
Could you explain that for me? I always just set a global font size based on points, and how large I want the general font to be, and then follow it with percents everywhere else.
23. Why use ems versus points or pixels?
{I told him about the IE problem with points and pixels, and why ems is better, although points is more developer friendly because then you don't have to use like decimal places on describing your sizes. So, 100%, I use ems now but when the day comes when we can use points, I plan to do so. The problem is IE.}
What's the problem with IE? I've actually never noticed any problems with it using points. I know, I know, just Google it...
24. Do you know what I might mean when I say "table-less" XHTML? (And when I answered, he asked --) When might I use tables in XHTML?
25. What does eval() mean in Javascript?
26. Is it okay to use eval() in Javascript?
27. How do I access the nth character of a string in Javascript?
28. How do I see if a string contains another string in Javascript?
29. With CSS, how do you make a container of floats expand to the size of floats inside, and work cross-browser starting with any of the top 6 browsers since the launch of IE6?
This drove me INSANE until a friend of mine showed me the simple trick...
30. With CSS, how might I use absolute positioning on an item inside something so that it goes by those inner bounds and not the bounds of the page?