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"Anyone can learn how to program in a book or a few classes."
A slight correction, anyone can learn how to program *badly from a book or by taking a few classes.
thats so true..its the same for a foreign language(in my mind programming is like a foreign language as well) you can learn it, but you will be fluent.
"Anyone can learn how to program in a book or a few classes."
A slight correction, anyone can learn how to program *badly from a book or by taking a few classes.
You think you need a degree to be a good programmer? Better... you think most colleges teach you how to be good programmers? I have had several degreed and non-degreed programmers work for me. There is no correlation between the two. I've had good programmers with degrees and without. Same for bad programmers.
You think you need a degree to be a good programmer?
Good as in good enough to work for Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, CIA, any of the top investment banks or hedge funds, yes, absolutely.
You won't learn all the tools you need ( Hardware, discrete mathematics, Calculus, Numerical Analysis, Operating System, Algorithms, Networking, low level Programming languages etc ) by reading just a few books.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
Better... you think most colleges teach you how to be good programmers?
I said most degrees are useless. That's because most people don't use their degree beyond the piece of paper they have indicating they have one. On top of that, many people get degrees from lower quality institutions.
Regarding comp sci... very few people become computer scientists. Anyone can learn how to program in a book or a few classes. Time is better spent studying complex problems.
One of the things that I don't like about many universities is they don't require any participation in research at the undergrad level.
Anybody can learn anything they teach at an University on his own. Your point? Especially economics..
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
You think you need a degree to be a good programmer? Better... you think most colleges teach you how to be good programmers? I have had several degreed and non-degreed programmers work for me. There is no correlation between the two. I've had good programmers with degrees and without. Same for bad programmers.
The same can be said about almost any major. What an attitude.
Anybody can learn anything they teach at an University on his own. Your point? Especially economics..
Indeed, economics is essentially just domain knowledge, it doesn't develop any special skill set. If you have the underlying skills, which can be gained by more rigorous programs, you can easily pick up the domain knowledge.
Good as in good enough to work for Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, CIA, any of the top investment banks or hedge funds, yes, absolutely.
You won't learn all the tools you need ( Hardware, discrete mathematics, Calculus, Numerical Analysis, Operating System, Algorithms, Networking, low level Programming languages etc ) by reading just a few books.
Those are computer science jobs. Not programming jobs for the most part. There's a BIG difference.
It's a waste of time for most people... since they will most likely not become computer scientists. Yes, you can name a bunch of software companies such as google and amazon. But there's still a very few of them. If you want to become a computer scientist and work at a software company, great, go for it.
But if you become a programmer at a manufacturing firm or something... you might as well have gone to school for supply chain or a particular industry of your interest.
Who knows, though, maybe it's not a waste of time... maybe I'll scrap my current line of work and work for a software company one day... I doubt it though. It's hard to get paid being a computer scientist at a software company.
Indeed, economics is essentially just domain knowledge, it doesn't develop any special skill set. If you have the underlying skills, which can be gained by more rigorous programs, you can easily pick up the domain knowledge.
I'm still not saying get rid of that major or that it is a waste of time.
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Make that "at a University".. ops.
