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Master’s Degree in Computer Science

evanp.me

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Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#31

Post by Transfinity »

stblack wrote: post #23

OP may already possess a master's degree, school-of-life alumnus. But I "get" it. I've thought of doing this too. I would add one criteria: I get to do the whole master's degree using Rust. I'm sure this would narrow the field of schools. I want a master's from a school that recognizes that it's effectively over for C++ and Java. At least it's completely over in my own mind. There's no way in hell I'm doing a master'…

Rust is fantastic for some problems, poor for others. If your alternative is C++, or you're doing something where you need to compile high performance code to wasm, go for it. If your alternative is Java and you're writing high level backend services, it might not be worth the cost, especially given the difficulty of finding / training experienced Rust programmers.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#32

Post by rhexs »

bradlys wrote: post #11

Where would a masters degree in CS help for someone with 20+ years of software experience? Genuinely - I have no clue. I don’t have a masters. I’ll likely never need one. If there was a specific field that required intense learning and was cutting edge (computer vision or something) then I’d understand a masters (or especially a PhD) but for general work…? Don’t get it. You’d certainly be better off financially from…

The gov hires based on a silly points system, and often, having a masters is the only way to get enough points to make it past the first filter.

This would only make sense if you're looking to retire-in-place though.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#33

Post by stblack »

clpm4j wrote: post #30
stblack wrote: post #23

OP may already possess a master's degree, school-of-life alumnus. But I "get" it. I've thought of doing this too. I would add one criteria: I get to do the whole master's degree using Rust. I'm sure this would narrow the field of schools. I want a master's from a school that recognizes that it's effectively over for C++ and Java. At least it's completely over in my own mind. There's no way in hell I'm doing a master'…

Spoken like an experienced software engineer and certainly not the type of person who is well suited for a formal classroom environment. But take a peak inside any of the Fortune 500 and you would surely walk back your assertion that it's effectively over for C++ and Java, regardless of how useful or elegant Rust might be.

Yeah I should probably clarify, I'm not looking to compete in a Fortune 500 job placement situation. Where I'm at, Fortune 500 calls me.

I'd do a master's degree because I'm curious as hell, and having tons of fun learning surrounded by smart people is all I want to do now.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#34

Post by faitswulff »

stblack wrote: post #23

OP may already possess a master's degree, school-of-life alumnus. But I "get" it. I've thought of doing this too. I would add one criteria: I get to do the whole master's degree using Rust. I'm sure this would narrow the field of schools. I want a master's from a school that recognizes that it's effectively over for C++ and Java. At least it's completely over in my own mind. There's no way in hell I'm doing a master'…

I would love to do this also, mostly because the Rust compiler probably has a master's degree worth of advice hidden in it and it would be helpful to have human guides to point out its wisdom.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#35

Post by cm2012 »

donthellbanme wrote: post #13
driscoll42 wrote: post #2

I'm personally in the Georgia Tech Online Master's in Computer Science (OMSCS) program right now and can't say enough good things about it. The coursework is rigorous, deep, and varied, you really do learn quite a bit through the program and more than just random learning on your own, you get a degree out of it. Plus you get the opportunity to do some research and publish papers.

The problem is when you have paid the tuition, and finished the degree, it's so hard to objectively rate it. I have a Bachelor's degree from a decent state school in California. At the time, I felt the courses were too easy, and my four years were a bit of a waste of time. I remember going to a graduation party, and you would think we graduated from med school. The graduates were carrying on like it was so rigrigrous…

I use to feel contempt for people really proud of graduating college. The actual college courses were all pretty easy compared to the difficulties of the rest of life at the same time - caring for family members, scraping together rent, etc. Someone proud of graduating college when all they had to do in the 4 years was study was upsetting to me.

I have a more mature perspective now, you never know what struggles people have and the courses are really tough for a lot of people.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#36

Post by tinco »

I did sort of the opposite of OP, during my masters I stopped just about halfway in because I just couldn't justify the time investment needed to complete the program over gaining experience at the startup I was already heavily involved in.

I completed all the "fun" courses, the ones that really taught computer science, but the focus and attention I needed to complete courses like advanced logic and discrete mathematics III I just couldn't combine with a fulltime job. I'm no math wiz, so those courses were really tough for me.

I now realize there's other universities that have less maths and more of the fun stuff, but even still say I wanted to jump to another specialization if I had 2 full time years to do it I could spend my time so much more efficiently than at a university.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#38

Post by kabdib »

bradlys wrote: post #11

Where would a masters degree in CS help for someone with 20+ years of software experience? Genuinely - I have no clue. I don’t have a masters. I’ll likely never need one. If there was a specific field that required intense learning and was cutting edge (computer vision or something) then I’d understand a masters (or especially a PhD) but for general work…? Don’t get it. You’d certainly be better off financially from…

Unless it's for something specialized (CV, machine learning, etc.) then an advanced degree doesn't seem likely to help, career-wise. For personal growth, sure. But it probably won't open much up or affect your pay.

I've done almost all of my learning either on the job, or through extracurricular reading (e.g., lots of conference proceedings, and textbooks on interesting subjects). If you read just one paper a week, that's 500 papers in a decade, and you'll have a good grounding in large swathes of CS (or at least you'll know where to go for ideas on hard problems). Two papers a week and you will be wise beyond human measure.

I dropped out of college 40 years ago and the lack of a degree has never been a problem. It's getting that first job that's probably the biggest hurdle; after 4-5 years, few companies will care. And if they care, you may not want to work there.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#39

Post by zb1plus »

wirthjason wrote: post #27
driscoll42 wrote: post #2

I'm personally in the Georgia Tech Online Master's in Computer Science (OMSCS) program right now and can't say enough good things about it. The coursework is rigorous, deep, and varied, you really do learn quite a bit through the program and more than just random learning on your own, you get a degree out of it. Plus you get the opportunity to do some research and publish papers.

I have a more mixed experience with the OMSCS. Overall it's a good program, and if the choice is between Udemy or OMSCS then it wins hands down. For me the central issue is online vs. in-person. Education is an interactive experience, the value of a good professor and classmates is helping to identify issues when you are stuck and nudge you just enough for you to connect the dots. As an undergraduate I liked attendin…

I second this. I attended OMSCS for a few semesters and ultimately dropped out because I felt most of the courses lacked any interactive component. Another factor that led me to drop out was that one of my biggest reasons for enrolling in a masters degree was to strengthen my research skills. Although I did manage to do research in a couple of courses and assist a professor, I found it very hard to juggle research, a full-time job and the demands of a part-time OMSCS course load (which is very time-consuming due to lack of interaction with instructors and faculty since it requires a lot of autodidacticism). Right now I am trying to determine the next steps in my educational journey. I am taking some online extension course with a synchronous lecture component and am finding it a lot better for really learning the material than OMSCS courses without synchronous learning component. However, it doesn't seem like full masters programs are offered in this manner. Has anyone found such a program in Computer Science that is geared towards people who already have a bachelor's degree in CS and are working full time in industry.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#40

Post by stblack »

thematrixturtle wrote: post #29
stblack wrote: post #23

OP may already possess a master's degree, school-of-life alumnus. But I "get" it. I've thought of doing this too. I would add one criteria: I get to do the whole master's degree using Rust. I'm sure this would narrow the field of schools. I want a master's from a school that recognizes that it's effectively over for C++ and Java. At least it's completely over in my own mind. There's no way in hell I'm doing a master'…

I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle. A MSc is not supposed to teach you programming languages, because whatever you learn now will in any case be obsolete in 10 years. It's supposed to teach you fundamentals and how to think, which is timeless. One of the most famous introductory CS courses in the world, MIT's "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs", was for decades taught using a programm…

So tech is a lot like crossing a river hopping from rock to rock. You make these leaps, and you try (or mostly hope) these leaps lead to a great career.

At the beginning, you're a 20-something person. You mostly don't get to pick your steps, especially if you're in the employed-by-others track.

Standing in the river on my rock, at this advanced career stage, I'm certainly not looking to "learn programming languages". That was long ago.

Right now it's all about picking the next leap based on the conviction that it's going to be a great ride in the future, which is much closer to sunset for me than most in this forum.

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