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Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

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Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#81

Post by hughw »

alecco wrote: post #33

Dropped out out of frustration with ridiculous emphasis on calculus and extremely poor algorithms teachers. I don't regret dropping out, I regret wasting a couple of years fighting that. But almost 15 years later I now find algorithms teaching in top universities completely out of touch with reality. Hardware changed drastically in the last decade and it seems they just gave up. It's turning into a cult of big-O theo…

You dropped out of college because of a "ridiculous emphasis on calculus" yet you are able to track and form opinions on the quality of "algorithms teaching in top universities"? I doubt it.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#83

Post by kalleboo »

I spent 5 years in a Computer Science & Engineering degree before I dropped out due to not having passed a single maths/calculus course (50% of the credit). I passed all the computing courses, I just don't have the head (and patience) for maths.

Contrary to many reports here, I found my time at uni quite rewarding. My professors had ties to local businesses (Ericsson/Sony Mobile) keeping the coursework relevant (one course actually covered programming in a team. 8 hours solid every Monday working in a team competing with other teams against a "customer", using XP methodology, pair programming, source control, the whole hog). I learned things in algorithms courses, optimizing compilers courses, networking (build an HTTP server device from MAC up), circuits (build a programmable computer on a breadboard starting with just a pile of transistors and working up, including all the boolean logic/karnaugh maps)

The only course that was out of date was web programming. Seemed like it was from the late 90's, teaching neural networks and agents and things.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#84

Post by manys »

nupark2 wrote: post #25
tzs wrote: post #11

I ignored a job advertised in the paper once because it said it required a master's in CS. I had a bachelor's in mathematics. The job was for a Unix kernel and system hacker at a company making Unix workstations. This was around 1984, when Unix internals experience was not widespread. Several months later, a headhunter sent me to interview for that job, which was still open because they hadn't been able to find anyon…

"or equivalent experience" is now a pretty standard addendum to the CS degree requirement.

That's pretty much a legal requirement since you can't require a degree for programming.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#85

Post by jarek »

kenneth_reitz wrote: post #40
tzs wrote: post #11

I ignored a job advertised in the paper once because it said it required a master's in CS. I had a bachelor's in mathematics. The job was for a Unix kernel and system hacker at a company making Unix workstations. This was around 1984, when Unix internals experience was not widespread. Several months later, a headhunter sent me to interview for that job, which was still open because they hadn't been able to find anyon…

I'm pretty convinced that those phrases are there to keep people that aren't qualified from applying. I've always ignored them and it's never been a problem.

Seems like they're not doing too well at their purpose then.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#86

Post by nessus42 »

furyofantares wrote: post #63

I have a math degree, it has in no way negatively impacted my career. Actually, taking the time to get a degree may have negatively impacted my career. Which is to say, I don't feel that having the piece of paper has really had much of anything to do with my career. But maybe I wouldn't have worked out what I wanted to do without the time to screw around and learn whatever I felt like.

I think that a math degree is pretty much always a boon, since in just about every field, they need people who are good in math, but most people who don't have a math degree are scared of serious math. (Physics, EE, and other engineering degrees, not including CS, probably don't count in the being scared of math category, so for those fields, having a math degree may not be as much of a boon.)

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#87

Post by prophetjohn »

why-el wrote: post #45
alecco wrote: post #33

Dropped out out of frustration with ridiculous emphasis on calculus and extremely poor algorithms teachers. I don't regret dropping out, I regret wasting a couple of years fighting that. But almost 15 years later I now find algorithms teaching in top universities completely out of touch with reality. Hardware changed drastically in the last decade and it seems they just gave up. It's turning into a cult of big-O theo…

I really respect your decision to drop out. I am a senior and I decided to take my last semester off and do a long internship. I am lucky to have found a good company, but that fight you had is still going on in my head. Most of the problems I solve at work are new to me, and nothing from my university is relevant, including the algorithms class. For instance, I have never used git in school. In fact, nobody has even…

Sounds like you guys should have gone to technical school or majored in CIS or something. Learning how to use version control is not in the scope of a Computer Science curriculum.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#88

Post by hughw »

Just as a history major might make a better newspaper writer than a journalism major, a math or science major might make a better programmer than a CS major. It's possible for a CS major to graduate knowing something about the craft and culture of CS, without comprehending a purpose; just as a journalism major knows how to write, but may not know what to write.

Not knocking CS or journalism. But the best teams in both industries are made of a mix of disciplines.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#89

Post by randomdata »

cmagahern wrote: post #77
qu4z-2 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wish you wouldn't use quotes around "CS" so much. What you were studying is exactly what computer science is. I agree it's probably a bad name for it. Maybe "computation science" would be better. Somehow people have this idea what "computer science" and "programming" are the same thing. It gets on my nerves a little. They're both interesting and important disciplines, but miles apart. Also, if your professors di…

"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." - Edsger Dijkstra The name of the field misleads a lot of people into thinking that CS is only about programming, but it's way more than that. Personally, I think all of my CS background from university is what distinguishes me as a software developer instead of just a "programmer".

> Personally, I think all of my CS background from university is what distinguishes me as a software developer instead of just a "programmer".

I consider myself a software developer because I work on the software from top to bottom. From business requirements, to user interface and usability design, to architecture and algorithms. Someone who is responsible for all aspects of code, but not other areas of the application's development, is a programmer to me.

It's funny how all these labels we throw around in the industry have no generally accepted definition.

Re: Poll: Do you have a CS degree?

#90

Post by hughw »

alecco wrote: post #38
kmfrk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the reasons I dropped out was also that the people there were out of touch how things worked "in the real world". It was just the same curriculum as it had always been (minus the things that were cut to appeal to more students who otherwise couldn't cut the mustard). I was legitimately afraid that I would waste my time on things that would largely be irrelevant outside academia in the sense that I had to facto…

It's worse. The joke "MongoDB is web-scale" reminds me of this growing cargo-cult full of cocky CS graduates. Edit: thanks for the anonymous downvotes validating my point; dissent must be suppressed.

I'm guessing CS dropouts are just as vocal in support of the nosql of the moment.
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