Particularly the latter. A lot of people break out in hives at the thought of spending the next forty five years glued to a computer monitor.
Why do so few people major in computer science?
571–580 of 627 posts
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#572Earlier quoted context omitted.
That just sounds like the professor didn't teach them about Java classpath before telling them to use a CLI; or this kid didn't read the course materials.
Doesn't the Java processor tell you in the error message that it "can't find x in classpath" or whatever? Perhaps the lesson was "read the error message; if it doesn't help then take that as a call to produce useful errors in your own programs"?
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#573Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of my professors actually made the opposite point: that in CS, the compiler will give you an error. You can fix it and move on to the next. While in math (he was a math prof), the paper doesn't object to your writing nonsense. If you have an error early on in your work, all the rest might be nonsense, and you only find out much later after a human grades it. tl;dr at least in CS you get immediate negative feedbac…
i sometimes wonder if a single line of code I wrote was ever run/checked by a TA or professor
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#574Earlier quoted context omitted.
I totally agree with this. The mass produced handheld computers such as smartphones and tablets, which outnumber desktops and laptops in personal ownership worldwide, will absolutely not help the newer generations with learning how computers work. When I was a tween I was building my own desktop, installing drivers, trouble shooting driver issues, trawling log files, and even dabbled in a little bit of python here or…
You forget that Arduino and Raspberry Pi exist now and fill that void quite nicely. If anything, I think it is far, far easier to learn the intangible CS skills today than at any time in the past. The one problem I see is with kids' motivation to do so, not with access to information or materials.
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#575Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, but if you have been playing around with environment variables in your OS since you where 8 years old the problem becomes a lot easier to troubleshoot, compared to someone who has never heard of environment variables.
I'm a bit interested with your comment. Do we have 8 year olds playing around with environment variables in the OS? I'm curious because I never thought that could be possible
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#576I think the market is just way over saturated. Hiring practices for developers point to just that. I mentioned in a different thread how simole it is for my travel-nurse of a sister to get a new job (her stints around the Bay Area paid ~100k and she only has 2 years of experience). Developers jump through hoop after hoop for employment, this wouldn't happen if they were in demand like a nurse. The market is just resp…
I'm a freelancer/run-my-own small dev consultancy and I pretty much never jump through hoops. The level of demand doesn't create the hoops. Some combination of needing to create the appearance of "only hiring the best of the best of the best just like everyone else" & fear of a bad hire creates the hoops. I don't have trouble finding work and often need to bring on additional help. The hoops are cultural.
So what's your point? You are not a traditional employee. You are a company...it would be weird for them to make you jump through so many hoops.
Companies are treated better than employees in the market.
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#577I think the market is just way over saturated. Hiring practices for developers point to just that. I mentioned in a different thread how simole it is for my travel-nurse of a sister to get a new job (her stints around the Bay Area paid ~100k and she only has 2 years of experience). Developers jump through hoop after hoop for employment, this wouldn't happen if they were in demand like a nurse. The market is just resp…
I don't know what market you're in, but it's definitely hard to find good people in Silicon Valley. Most of the time my company finds one, they have multiple offers. It's also difficult to believe in an oversaturation of developers when their salaries are at record highs -- that only happens when demand increases relative to supply. There is no union, and minimum wage is nowhere near what developers are paid, so supp…
Why would you compare developer salaries to minimum wage? You should be comparing them to the wages of doctors, lawyers, and CEO's.
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#578Earlier quoted context omitted.
In 6 years I never thought of it that way! :) Thanks! Now I feel like an idiot.
Try "Trolling Euclid" book by Tom Wright, to understand why the Riemann Hypothesis is considered by many mathematicians to be the most important unsolved problem in mathematics today.
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#579I think the market is just way over saturated. Hiring practices for developers point to just that. I mentioned in a different thread how simole it is for my travel-nurse of a sister to get a new job (her stints around the Bay Area paid ~100k and she only has 2 years of experience). Developers jump through hoop after hoop for employment, this wouldn't happen if they were in demand like a nurse. The market is just resp…
Nurse is licensed though. That's instant credibility.
Re: Why do so few people major in computer science?
#580I think the market is just way over saturated. Hiring practices for developers point to just that. I mentioned in a different thread how simole it is for my travel-nurse of a sister to get a new job (her stints around the Bay Area paid ~100k and she only has 2 years of experience). Developers jump through hoop after hoop for employment, this wouldn't happen if they were in demand like a nurse. The market is just resp…
That seems to contradict the whole "there aren't enough devs" argument that seems to keep getting brought out to enact visa "reform"...