This is superb. I've been trying to talk people out if getting MS degrees in CS as a way to learn to program for a while and have always recommended self-study like this if they have the stomach for the whole autodidactic thing. Going to add this list to my arsenal of resources. Really well done!
Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
11–20 of 32 posts
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#12The idea of a mostly free online CS education seems quite popular on HN. However, I remain skeptical re: employ-ability. Has anyone done any kind of study or survey to see whether these types of rundowns improve a self-taught programmer's change of gainful employment? How does self-taught compare to degree-holding, and how do they both compare to this kind of pseudo-degree? How does one list "cobbled-together CS educ…
I'm an engineer who spent a few years doing recruiting for top Bay Area startups.
For the kinds of companies, I recruited for, if your school is top-tier, having that brand on your resume is going to open doors. If it's not, then you might as well go self-taught and save some money because at least then you'll look a bit unique and like someone with grit/initiative. Resumes from n-tier schools very rarely make it past the gatekeepers, unless you have some really salient projects or come in as a referral.
This is all rather silly, of course. I wrote at length about it here: http://blog.alinelerner.com/silicon-valley-hiring-is-not-a-m...
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#13That is a good list. In addition for like courses grouped together: http://coursebuffet.com/sub/computer-science
Going to bookmark this. Thanks!
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#14I don't view courses like this as a way to become employable really. But I'll probably follow this stuff just to become better in a more structured way. I signed up when ML and AI became first available on coursers (as soon as they launched and before the udacity spinoff). A few lectures in and I realised that they weren't kidding when they said the prerequisites of maths was needed. Attempting to find a way of doing…
These courses will absolutely not make you employable on their own. However, if you do these courses and develop a CS/math vocabulary and you also build some substantial things then you'll absolutely be employable. In fact you'll be fairly employable with only the building stuff part but it's nice to have some foundational tools for modeling complex problems and the vocabulary to discuss problems and solutions precisely with fellow engineers.
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#15The idea of a mostly free online CS education seems quite popular on HN. However, I remain skeptical re: employ-ability. Has anyone done any kind of study or survey to see whether these types of rundowns improve a self-taught programmer's change of gainful employment? How does self-taught compare to degree-holding, and how do they both compare to this kind of pseudo-degree? How does one list "cobbled-together CS educ…
That's not how it works. You take a comprehensive background in CS to learn CS, not for direct employment. The benefit is in being as strong an engineer as someone who went to school (theoretically). In practice, all of the people I know who are successful engineers without a degree simply don't have an "Education" section on their résumé. They will make up for it in the other sections. As for your last question - ye…
Sure -- I'm not disputing that the primary reason for a strong CS background is to be a better engineer (which would of course translate in less tangible ways to employability, like having more impressive projects and promotions).
I just already assume that these online mostly free options are equivalent to if not better than your typical 4-year CS degree in terms of gaining a background in CS. In my mind, the reason to pay for the 4-year degree as opposed to a program like this is employment. The (non-HN) mantra usually goes, "having that piece of paper opens doors."
So, I think it is relevant to ask these questions regarding employment, as that is usually a big part of the justification for spending money. Further, it is often not accurate to attempt to draw a distinction between the two on the basis of educational quality.
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#16The idea of a mostly free online CS education seems quite popular on HN. However, I remain skeptical re: employ-ability. Has anyone done any kind of study or survey to see whether these types of rundowns improve a self-taught programmer's change of gainful employment? How does self-taught compare to degree-holding, and how do they both compare to this kind of pseudo-degree? How does one list "cobbled-together CS educ…
I'm an engineer who spent a few years doing recruiting for top Bay Area startups. For the kinds of companies, I recruited for, if your school is top-tier, having that brand on your resume is going to open doors. If it's not, then you might as well go self-taught and save some money because at least then you'll look a bit unique and like someone with grit/initiative. Resumes from n-tier schools very rarely make it pas…
Interesting read. It is, indeed, rather silly.
re: "doing recruiting for top Bay Area startups. For the kinds of companies, I recruited for..."
What about the other 90% (or whatever it actually is) of software jobs out there? People like me, who have dropped out of college multiple times, come from families without money or connections, and don't want to live in the Bay Area or SV, will be applying to a whole different class of company and will probably face a much different hiring environment. Personally, that's what I'm more curious about in the context of educational certification.
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#17The idea of a mostly free online CS education seems quite popular on HN. However, I remain skeptical re: employ-ability. Has anyone done any kind of study or survey to see whether these types of rundowns improve a self-taught programmer's change of gainful employment? How does self-taught compare to degree-holding, and how do they both compare to this kind of pseudo-degree? How does one list "cobbled-together CS educ…
the degree you're 'slogging' through is almost certainly a safer route to your destination I'm pretty sure its a mistake to think the free online CS education won't require alot of 'slogging' to have any value the benefit you have is that you have real life humans, who hold office hours, and will answer question in real time, when your slog gets tough ultimately though, you'll be judged on what you know, not where yo…
For me at least, the "slog" is not the work (I absolutely love writing code and learning CS), it's the organizational side: showing up to scheduled events (group meetings, I take online classes), completing designated assignments with little to no room for creativity, etc. That's a bit different than assuming a Coursera/edX path is a free ride. You just get a lot more autonomy.
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#18This is fantastic. I switched careers a couple year ago (used to be a CPA) and am now a very happy software engineer at a tech company. These sorts of resources are great.
I want to iterate, though, for people without CS degrees that doing something like this will NOT make it easier for you to get a software engineer position in and of itself. The skills you learn from things like this will though - so use this to be able to learn what you need to know to build cool side proects. In my experience, companies will usually ignore your lack of CS degree if you have projects that demonstrate your knowledge. I personally have many projects using some high level languages doing things like web apps or visualizations, and I'm also working on an emulator just to teach myself more about computer architecture. It helps that even though my job has me working very far from the hardware, I still find all this stuff fascinating.
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#19This isn't a bad idea. Even for people with a CS degree.
Usually in a CS degree there are a number of optional upper level courses you can take.
You need to take some number to graduate, but can't take all of them unless you delay graduation (By years). Having a well laid out path to learning subjects you didn't cover in a CS degree is a benefit.
Machine learning/AI wasn't taught at nearly the level it is now when I was in school. We've learnt a lot formally about distributed systems, etc. So kudos.
Re: Obtaining a Thorough CS Background Online
#20Do the compsci intro first then do the math in code, that's what I've been doing for some of the courses it helps give you practice programming. I started in Scheme now going through 'Doing Math w/Python' book from nostarchpress for things that need libraries