No
OP didn't ask a specific yes/no question.
This isn't reddit. Low effort comments are looked down upon.
Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
11–20 of 309 posts
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#12I heard somewhere that a computer science degree is actually a history degree in how we have solved problems in the past. Programming is a creative problem solving process, but certain problems took decades to solve and it’s only by knowing the history that people are able to resolve some of these hard problems. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all of history and give yourself a break for not being able to immediately solve problems that took dedicated researchers their whole careers in the early days of computing.
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#13Interesting, I think a CS degree does not equal a programming job unless you prepare in addition to your CS degree.
CS programs focus more on the abstract parts of the field. For example, you can finish a programming project without having to program a sort function, this is a built in function in most languages, yet that's a basic part of a CS program.
I think generally there's a disconnect between what employers need and what CS programs provide.
Don't get me wrong there are jobs that could not be done without the knowledge CS programs provide but for the average programming job there's a disconnect and you'll have a hard time if you don't have that in mind.
So, yes, I can see how you can have a programming job without being able to solve a CS class problem.
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#14I heard somewhere that a computer science degree is actually a history degree in how we have solved problems in the past. Programming is a creative problem solving process, but certain problems took decades to solve and it’s only by knowing the history that people are able to resolve some of these hard problems. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all of history and give yourself a break for not being able to imme…
Knowing things like binary trees, heaps, B-trees, queues etc. are not history. They are fundamental to writing applications. Using one data structure or a particular sort method will make your application much faster. Supposed you have had a billion elements to sort, but you knew every element in that array is between 1-100. I mean a bucket sort would be much much faster than using a quick sort.
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#15That's akin to being a whiz at high school calculus and expecting to breeze through rigorous courses in real/complex/functional analyses. Possible if you're a prodigy.
You already got the practical programming down. Now if you take a course titled "intro to proofs" or "intro to discrete math", you'll be well prepared to kick any CS class' ass.
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#16I heard somewhere that a computer science degree is actually a history degree in how we have solved problems in the past. Programming is a creative problem solving process, but certain problems took decades to solve and it’s only by knowing the history that people are able to resolve some of these hard problems. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all of history and give yourself a break for not being able to imme…
Knowing things like binary trees, heaps, B-trees, queues etc. are not history. They are fundamental to writing applications. Using one data structure or a particular sort method will make your application much faster. Supposed you have had a billion elements to sort, but you knew every element in that array is between 1-100. I mean a bucket sort would be much much faster than using a quick sort.
> They are fundamental to writing applications.
That's funny, I must not have written any applications in the past 14 years. (Seriously though, I read one algorithms book when I was 16, and used those algorithms approximately... five times... in the past decade and a half)
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#17Think of it this way: application development, software engineering, and computer science (and data science and ... etc) sometimes use the same tools but are all different disciplines. Universities traditionally focused on Computer Science and their graduates would often need a lot of grooming before they could really be independently and reliably productive in the commercial words of application development or softw…
seconding this, creating value is orthogonal to knowing CS. see the creator of homebrew, Max Howell infamously failing to invert a binary tree in an interview: https://mobile.twitter.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?la...
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#18Computer science is not the same as professional software development, even though it makes for a good educational foundation. Often even those of us who studied computer science are separated from it by enough years or abstractions such that we have to take a step back and think about fundamental problems when they are presented. So don't feel bad, unless you believe this actually indicates an area for professional growth.
Said another way - I haven't needed to write in twenty years, so if I had to, it would take me just as long as it takes you.
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#19> but when it comes to me trying to solve these problems on my own, I don't know where to start.
How do you expect to know where to start when you haven't been taught anything yet? Your short resumé does not indicate that you have any background in Computer Science. That's not bad, it's just different.
Re: Ask HN: I've been a programmer for 6 years, and I can't solve basic CS problems
#20I heard somewhere that a computer science degree is actually a history degree in how we have solved problems in the past. Programming is a creative problem solving process, but certain problems took decades to solve and it’s only by knowing the history that people are able to resolve some of these hard problems. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all of history and give yourself a break for not being able to imme…
>history degree in how we have solved problems in the past.
I like that, that's a cool way to think about it.
I've often thought it should be called "computational" science or maybe "skills in logical problem solving." Regardless of whether one pursues a career in software, a computer science degree is really good at teaching a person how to think.