Why do so few people major in computer science?

I was rejected from college because I was too young. They told me to come back a year later.

I decided to apply for a programming job to earn some money and get back to college the year later. 8 years later... still didn't go back and no intention to.

And wrote it too? Haha

>In fact, I am an unusual case and I do not consciously choose to use those Google, Microsoft or Apple offerings, nor do I value and rely on the ones I occasionally come in contact with.

So I assume you use linux or BSD? I can assure you both of those were created primarily by computer scientists.

>I use TCP/IP but I did not choose it. There were many competing protocols. It just became the default.

Who do you think designs these competing protocols?

>many of the folks who wrote the software that I actively seek out and value had degrees in Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and/or Physics. I might use different software than most users.

And yet this software you seek out runs on an operating system designed by computer scientists, compiles with compilers designed by computer scientists, and is distributed via protocols designed by computer scientists.

> But to me it means, at least, CS is not a prerequisite.

Who said CS was a prerequisite for anything? Most of the venerable algorithms we study in computer science weren't designed by CS majors because CS wasn't a major when the algorithms' designers were in college.

>I am just referring to the practice of writing software. I would question anyone who argued one must have a CS degree to write great software.

Of course great software can be written by someone without a CS degree. John Carmack doesn't have a CS degree. Donald Knuth doesn't have a CS degree. John Backus, Grace Hopper, John von Neumann, Alan Kay, and most of the other CS luminaries didn't have CS degrees. I have literally never met anyone who would argue that a CS degree is necessary to write great software.

You've changed your argument from "I have never used any software written by a 'computer scientist' that I came to value and rely on", and "I do not believe that a computer science degree is of any significance in terms of the ability to write good software" to "there exists great software written by people without CS degrees."

You've moved from a arguing an absurd and utterly false point, to constructing a straw man.

To your earlier point: "computer science degree is of any significance in terms of the ability to write good software".

In pursuing a CS degree you will engage in in depth study of the algorithms and data structures necessary to create complicated software. In order for someone who didn't major in CS to create complicated software, they must either study these algorithms and data structures on their own, or use a library written by someone else who has.

Math majors are expected to know high school math. You can literally know exactly that and succeed. If you wish to get ahead of competition, you know exactly what to do and exactly what is measured. CS does not have such clarity of expectations. I knew basics, because of journals my father bought. Since I knew basics, the teacher shown me some competitions - from then on I just went with the flow. Had my father not bought those journals or had my teacher not shown me competitions, I would not study cs or had much harder time.

If you are a boy, video game console is something that is bought for you often times whether you really want it or not. Raspberry pi is likely not and you don't know it exists. And even if you know it exists, you need computer to upload code to it and then you could have just use that computer to code. I know that it is easy to code when you know where to look, but the biggest hurdle is that many kids dont know where to look. Instead, they are told there is something magical and hard about it.

I remember being told that it is hard or that I cant compete because I am (presumably) just learning and other kids "already know a lot". It was bs, but that is where it is for many kids.

Seriously, I knew straight A students who were more hardworking then me and had good grades in math (meaning no dummies memorizing stuff) were under impression I have some special brain because I can program. All the myths around cs tend reinforce such nonsense.

Logo is great and all, but we're not talking about beginning programming for kids, we're talking about CS degrees.

At some point between Logo and bachelor's degree, you run face-first into that complexity, which is the "wall" the commenter atop this thread was referring to.