You type your name as the maker of the source or header file, why would you want more than that o.O? And I don't think any company would erase that, unless they really don't like you or something :P
But if you're afraid of the company just stealing your code, then I'd guess you're not trying to get into a friendly workplace, in that case, I'd recommend you don't even try get in, 'cause unfriendly work places drain your soul and you're gonna walk depressed for the rest of your life
Currently research OpenGL
You might as well explicitly claim copyright. If you are paranoid, you might even register the copyright.Originally Posted by Akkernight
They might not like you after you have left the company
Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
If a company hates you for leaving them, then they got serious issues :P
Currently research OpenGL
And that does hold up in court... And so would submitting code as part of a job interview process.
And I doubt that unless you are specifically paid for such "previous work" and it's code that you have actually written as personal development, it would actually hold up in court. Certainly, a new employer would not have the rights to code you wrote for a previous employer - it wouldn't be yours to give away (or sell) anyways. And if they are hiring you to get access to code you wrote before they hired you, then they should really pay you specifically for that.
Obviously, this doesn't mean that the company can't put in the small print for the solution that the code you send will henceforth belong to them, just like many photo competitions allow the competition company to use your photos "in any way it likes, whether you win or not" - a good way to build up a large library of stock photos on any or all subjects...
--
Mats
Of course it all depends on the wording of the clauses under which the code is submitted, but corporate lawyers are good at such things.
Submitting code that doesn't belong to you in the first place (like code written for some prior employer) would be a good indication not to hire the person submitting it as they're not to be trusted with company secrets...
I guess the company won't bother to claim your code as theirs unless otherwise it is one of the projects that a client has asked for or a project that is currently under development or likely to be developed in the future.
Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted
- Albert Einstein.
No programming language is perfect. There is not even a single best language; there are only languages well suited or perhaps poorly suited for particular purposes.
- Herbert Mayer
My Dad wrote some code that his company ended up buying from him. It wasn't a project they had wanted to develop - it was a totally new idea. He took a ton of precautions to make sure his intellectual property got protected, but they stole an awful lot of it - very dirty business but they can get away withit if they try hard enough. Their lawyers are smarter than you - you can count on that.
more important than them being smarter than you, they have more money than you do to fight legal battles (you could hire smart lawyers if you had the money).
And of course they can always count on you not making too much of a fuss as it will damage your reputation in the business, making it harder to get jobs in the future.
I have been on both sides of the table. I have been asked for sample code once.
In my interviews I am more concerned with other things,
will you fit my team,
can I keep you motivated,
will you melt if I take you on-site
etc.
I give you a simple test (<20 lines to write) to make sure you have the skills you say you have.
My systems are asset protection, so I look for
error checking,
logic errors
In a code sample I would be looking for
error checking
logic
comments
readability (descriptive variable names etc)
Too much code, don't submit this.
Better IMO to show them one perfect file.
"Man alone suffers so excruciatingly in the world that he was compelled to invent laughter."
Friedrich Nietzsche
"I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars......the rest I squandered."
George Best
"If you are going through hell....keep going."
Winston Churchill
