Your Code Sample Should Be:

1) Short. No more than 6 to 8 pages, please.

2) Self-contained. It might contain references to other modules not included, but it needs to be able to stand alone. In other words, not just three pages out of a larger program. (On the other hand, it is not necessary that your code can run by itself as a separate program. Often it's better to have one important module to concentrate on rather than the complete program.)

3) Relevant. It should be in a language that you want to find work in. (If you're a system administrator, we suggest shell script, awk, or perl.)

4) Representative. It should be something you've done that you think shows what you know. Show off a little. It doesn't have to be a printout either; if you want to send us a little applet you've done, that's fine too.

5) Fresh in your mind. We will want to talk about it with you. This is not only our gentle reminder not to have your best friend write something for you, but also to let you know not to send something you did years ago that you don't remember well.