I completely agree. While I do have a Comp. Sci. degree, I have worked with many fine programmers that have degrees ranging from English to Chemistry to Astronomy to Meterology. If I'd know that it was possible to be a programmer without a Comp Sci degree, I'd have studied Astro-Physics and studied Comp.Sci. on the side.
Oh well. Simon >-----Original Message----- >From: Thornton Scott Contractor CADRE/WGTD >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 9:11 AM >To: 'Struts Users Mailing List' >Subject: RE: Does a degree matter? > > >I got my degree in Electrical Engineering. One of my good >friends got his >masters degree in Cryptography. There are countless other >engineers that got >their degree's in technical fields. I loved EE because it just >brought my >brain to a new level of thinking. I am a much better problem >solver than I >would have ever been had I not studied EE. It also gave me the >confidence >that I could brake apart any problem into sub-problems and >then solve each >of those sub-problems. BTW, my boss, who was also a developer before he >became a manager, has a PhD in Mathematics. Therefore, my >advice is to study >something technically challenging (and hopefully enjoyable) and learn >software development in your language of choice on the side. > >-----Original Message----- >From: PILGRIM, Peter, FM [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 8:23 AM >To: 'Struts Users Mailing List' >Subject: RE: Does a degree matter? > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Craig R. McClanahan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> On Sat, 29 Mar 2003, Arron Bates wrote: >> >> > Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 20:36:21 -0600 >> > From: Arron Bates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> > >> > Brandon, >> > >> > If you can do the deed (which it sounds like you can), I >> would hazard offering >> > my opinion in thinking that it wouldn't be the best use of >> your time. By >--////-- >> >> My personal experience (both for myself and for folks I have >> hired over >> the years) mirrors this -- indeed, my personal opinion is >> that a Comp Sci >> degree is worth less (to me as an employer) than a degree in >> some field >> that is more closely associated with the general needs of potential >> employers. >> >> Why? A couple of reasons: >> >> * Many folks who go for Comp Sci degrees obsess over learning the >> particular technologies being taught in their classes, at >> the expense >> of courses to improve your general thinking skills. Any specific >> technology you learn in your first year is going to be totally >> obsolete by the time you graduate from the program anyway, so why >> bother? The important skill to employers (at least from my >> viewpoint) >> is that you've learned how to quickly adapt your existing skills to >> new technologies as they become available. Also, the fundamentals >> of good architecture and design practices tend to change much more >> slowly than the favorite language de jour -- so if you decide to go >> for Comp Sci, focus on fundamentals like O-O, design patterns, >> and so on. > >I got my degree over 10 years ago, and technology justs moves to fast >to keep. THe first year I learned Pascal. Then second year, I learnt >Concurrent Pascal with a classic book, by Isreali fella, maybe you >might know of it, Ali, Adi. I also learnt Assembly language. In the >forth year I finally learnt Fortran and C, pre-ANSI. > >> >> * Many folks who go for Comp Sci degrees are so focused on >> the technical >> things, and don't accumulate any domain knowledge along >the way that >> would make you *more* valuable to potential employers than another >> Comp Sci graduate with similar skills. If you're building >> e-commerce >> systems, do you know anything about the fundamental accounting >> principles involved in tracking purchases? If you're building >> systems to introduce novices to the world of online information, >> have you ever studied any human factors engineering? If you're >> building trading systems for a Wall Street broker, do you have the >> slightest idea how stock and commodity exchanges work? >> >Definitely. If there a modular course in Investment Banking back in >the 1980's and being where I am now. Knowing what I know now. >I would have go for it like a rancid dog! > >> It may surprise some of you to find out that I don't have a Comp Sci >> degree at all -- instead, I got a BA in Business with a focus on >> Accounting. This was ***tremendously*** helpful in setting >> me apart from >> everyone else who was learning programming and systems >> analysis in those >> days -- I could immediately communicate with the end users >> responsible for >> the systems we were building, using their vocabulary, without >> having to be >> trained -- in addition to the fact that I was a fair-to-middlin' >> programmer :-). >> >> If you are looking at going to college today (either because >it's that >> time in your life, or because the job market sucks right >now), I would >> suggest thinking about a primary major other than Comp Sci >> (with a Comp >> Sci minor to keep your hand in on all the technical stuff). >> The name of >> the game is making yourself more valuable, relative to >> everyone else out >> there -- and, quite frankly, there are more interesting things in the >> world than just computers and web apps :-). >> >> Craig >> > >If you are die hard techie, then you should get "first honours" or >"second class honours" from a Computer Science degree, at >British University at least. But I would recommend, strongly, >that you also look at a ``Combined Degree'' such as computing and >international economic, computing and biotechnology (hot!), >computing and engineering, or physical sciences. > >Also I would seriously look at humanities, arts related degrees >for good combination. If you are interested in digital arts, >photography, graphic, design and web, you might something >computing related. > >Dont do what a lot of people did/do. Bog standard boring. >Mathematics and Computer Science unless, of course, you instead to be >Professor at Oxbridge. > >Mix it up >-- >Peter Pilgrim, >Struts/J2EE Consultant, RBoS FM, Risk IT >Tel: +44 (0)207-375-4923 > > >******************************************************************** > Visit our Internet site at http://www.rbsmarkets.com > >This e-mail is intended only for the addressee named above. >As this e-mail may contain confidential or privileged information, >if you are not the named addressee, you are not authorised to >retain, read, copy or disseminate this message or any part of it. >The Royal Bank of Scotland plc is registered in Scotland No 90312 >Registered Office: 36 St Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 2YB >Regulated by the Financial Services Authority >******************************************************************** > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
