Re:Web Developers Are Stupid
by dasil003 on Saturday August 22, 2009 @12:19PM
(#779459)
Absolutely true. I don't think a college degree has any correlation to programming skill at all. I completed an MIT-based CS curriculum with all graduate-level classes my senior year. Had I not also been working full time as a web developer, and dabbling in the web since 1993, my degree would have made me virtually unhirable as a web developer.
On the other hand, the CS theory gives a very solid theoretical base that makes me a better programmer in all aspects of what I do. None of this stuff is exclusively available in a CS degree, all this information is available for free online if you know where to look. Most decent practitioners will pick up a lot of this stuff intuitively without formal training, but not with the same breadth or formality.
The stuff I did in my CS degree, such as optimizing binary code, writing a (subset of) Java compiler from scratch, and writing radiosity and monte carlo 3d renderers is demonstrative of a certain practical ability to deal with complex subjects that I consider valuable to all types of programmers. Therefore I think a CS degree can continue to stay very relevant, as long as they stick with theoretical CS and don't turn programs into Java and C# farms.
That said, the skills to succeed in a theoretical CS program do not necessarily translate into the ability to get things done in a real world environment, and it would also be a mistake to use it as some sort of litmus test since a college environment is not for everyone.
On the other hand, the CS theory gives a very solid theoretical base that makes me a better programmer in all aspects of what I do. None of this stuff is exclusively available in a CS degree, all this information is available for free online if you know where to look. Most decent practitioners will pick up a lot of this stuff intuitively without formal training, but not with the same breadth or formality.
The stuff I did in my CS degree, such as optimizing binary code, writing a (subset of) Java compiler from scratch, and writing radiosity and monte carlo 3d renderers is demonstrative of a certain practical ability to deal with complex subjects that I consider valuable to all types of programmers. Therefore I think a CS degree can continue to stay very relevant, as long as they stick with theoretical CS and don't turn programs into Java and C# farms.
That said, the skills to succeed in a theoretical CS program do not necessarily translate into the ability to get things done in a real world environment, and it would also be a mistake to use it as some sort of litmus test since a college environment is not for everyone.