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Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

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Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#151

Post by quickthrower2 »

jongjong wrote: post #67

I tend to be a somewhat slow learner but once I've learned something, I seem to remember it forever (I only lose a little bit of detail). I remember most of the stuff from university 10 years ago including the brand and model of the microcontroller I programmed (ATMEL ATMEGA8-16PU) and the names of the I/O registers on that chip, the name of the program I used to program it with (AVR Studio). I also remember most stu…

That sounds like unusually good memory, almost like Michael Ross level. Make good use of that!

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#152

Post by jasonm23 »

rufius wrote: post #135

The thing most folks don’t realize is that Computer Science isn’t Software Engineering. They’re related but distinct. Software Engineering is a lot of the day to day work you do as software engineer. It’s more about people, process, execution. In reality, most problems you’ll encounter in day to day software engineering won’t be CS problems. Lots of CRUD-shaped apps of varying forms and sizes. Occasionally, you’ll ge…

The lightbulb moment for me was when I read this definition of software engineering:

Software Engineering = Programming + people + time.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#153

Post by ahati »

raffraffraff wrote: post #111
ahati wrote: post #88

Forgetting fundamentals is not normal, at least that is what I thought. Responses in this post is changing my perception. No wonder, recruiting is hard. I have found a knowlge of OS, computer organizaton, digital logic, networking, compiler design are crucial. If you are into datascience or ML, math is absolutely essential. I don't know why so many people think forgetting fundamental is normal.

Depends on your age. If you left college 25 years ago and haven't use that knowledge since, of course it's gonna fade. My uncle left Hungary in the 1950s, aged 18. By the 1990s he couldn't hold a conversation in his mother tongue.

I have left uni 19yrs ago. 6yrs to reach 25.

CS topics are too interesting to forget. I always find fundamentals are useful to take good decisions in my work.

Guess what? I don't speak much my language for straight 15 yrs. But am still able to enjoy books written in that language, I can speak on phone fluently.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#154

Post by ahati »

arinlen wrote: post #100
ahati wrote: post #88

Forgetting fundamentals is not normal, at least that is what I thought. Responses in this post is changing my perception. No wonder, recruiting is hard. I have found a knowlge of OS, computer organizaton, digital logic, networking, compiler design are crucial. If you are into datascience or ML, math is absolutely essential. I don't know why so many people think forgetting fundamental is normal.

> I don't know why so many people think forgetting fundamental is normal. Because it is normal. The notion that you recall everything from a random class you took some semester years ago, and that it won't ever leave your memory, is not realistic nor grounded on reality. Furthermore, "fundamentals" don't mean the same for all people. Most developers will go through their entire career without implementing a single da…

C++ and DS are not the sum total of CS fundamentals. They are just tiny part of it which I think a lot of people use and it is necessary to learn them.

I am curious, do you enjoy your work? Considering that even if you do not have to 'use' any knowledge of how your 'system' is built, how do you resolve problems in your 'system'? Even then, what is is fun of not knowing what you are actually doing?

It amazes me.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#155

Post by ahati »

tfsh wrote: post #107
ahati wrote: post #88

Forgetting fundamentals is not normal, at least that is what I thought. Responses in this post is changing my perception. No wonder, recruiting is hard. I have found a knowlge of OS, computer organizaton, digital logic, networking, compiler design are crucial. If you are into datascience or ML, math is absolutely essential. I don't know why so many people think forgetting fundamental is normal.

Your commennt exudes a particularly unpleasent pretentious tone. The average software engineer does not need to remember compiler design, digital logic, esoteric datastructures etc to do their job well. If people are forgetting "fundementals" (of which I would not classify specialised subjects such as compiler design), then it's because they don't need it for the job they're doing. Although I do agree that Computer S…

What pretense? I have already read other comments before posting.

It is unpleasant for you to be on the other is of this argument? May be that is.

I am wondering why you had a prenatious tone.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#156

Post by ahati »

tempxyz wrote: post #109
tfsh wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your commennt exudes a particularly unpleasent pretentious tone. The average software engineer does not need to remember compiler design, digital logic, esoteric datastructures etc to do their job well. If people are forgetting "fundementals" (of which I would not classify specialised subjects such as compiler design), then it's because they don't need it for the job they're doing. Although I do agree that Computer S…

So then, computer science puts you passed average.

You have nailed it.

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#158

Post by dev_0 »

fjfbsufhdvfy wrote: post #83
DennisP wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised to see database normalization in OP's list. Working at a modest-size company, database normalization was something I dealt with all the time. It was up to the devs to do table design, if you didn't normalize you'd end up with a mess.

I've never seen someone even mention the word normalization when working with databases, but the knowledge is useful to intuitively design more sensible tables. Perhaps many people don't realize they are doing it?

All I know is don't store duplicated data in different tables

Re: Ask HN: Working as a software engineer for 5 years, I've forgotten all CS stuff

#160

Post by dev_0 »

rramadass wrote: post #81

No, it is NOT normal if you truly mean you remember nothing from your studies. I really hope that is not the case and that you have only forgotten the intricate details (which is fine). The absolute fundamentals (some of which are listed below) should never be forgotten. 1) Computer Architecture vs. Organization, CPU/Execution Units/Caches/Memory, Clock, Pipelining, ILP, Multiprocessor, SoC. 2) OS responsibilities -…

It might take years to study these topics in depth
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