Is this project too advanced for a beginner?

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Hi all! So basically someone I know from a Facebook group posted about an open position at his company. I asked him about the position and told him I’m still at the beginning and asked if it’s relevant, so he sent me his phone number and asked me to call him.

I called and he asked me what’s my knowledge level, and I said I’m a beginner, so he told me he will send me an “exercise” and asked for my email. This “exercise” turned out to be an entire project, and it seems it’s pretty advanced. The project is to build a Windows Paint clone as a web app (though more simplified with just the basic features). In addition, the app has to record what you draw on the canvas for 1 minute once you click a button, and at the end of the minute you get a new button, and when you click it the canvas should show an animation of what you drew. He also wants to know how long it took me to build it (which obviously will be long).

I think it’s too advanced for a beginner. Should I try nonetheless or should I thank him for the opportunity and try it later when I develop my skills a bit more?

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At least give a shot. Many times recruiter is not looking for the skill but rather your ability to take challenges and put efforts into it.

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A similar project is outlined in Eloquent JavaScript Chapter 19 to give you some ideas on how to tackle it.
http://eloquentjavascript.net/19_paint.html

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@cedaus I’m glad I did. Seems I underestimated myself a bit, it’s actually going rather well but requiring a ton of research. Looks like I’m gonna finish this project after all, which is good nonetheless for the experience (and possibly for portfolio), regardless of whether I get the job. It’s fun though I must admit, been working on it for about 9-10 hours (with breaks of course) and still not bored, lol.

@s_coder Thanks for the link, it give me some ideas on how to go about it. :slight_smile:

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That could be a fun exercise to try … do you mine sharing the specifics as they were sent to you (just the exercise, not the potential employer!) :slight_smile:

I could come up with my own specifications, but I’d be interested to see what the exercise calls for.

~Micheal

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Its not too difficult to program, I did a similar project in WinForms when I was starting out. Good luck!

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Sure, no problem!

It’s a simple MS Paint clone. You basically need to be able to draw on the canvas, resize the canvas, change colors and choose the desired shape to draw (not all shapes are required tough, just the first few you see in Paint).

However, the main catch in the app is the ability to somehow record or save what you drew on the canvas for 1 minute once you click a button, and to display an animation of it once you click it again after the countdown of the minute reaches 0 (I managed to get it to work but it’s not perfect yet).

The guy didn’t say you can’t use external libraries, but as I understood you’re supposed to only use HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS. That’s what I’m doing anyway.

I hope this helped. If you need any additional details, don’t hesitate to ask! Good luck.

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great to know this :wink: