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Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

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Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#11

Post by jamesaguilar »

gems wrote: post #4
jamesaguilar wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too know what other people should want to do with their lives.

My opinion is that it (exactly what I stated, nothing more) is most likely a manifestation of insecurity, rather than a product of anything that's not superficial (desire to help people, for example). I'm not telling you how to lead your life (a fiat), I'm offering an opinion with a suggestion. I give zero shits if what I said applies to you and you decide to stay on the same course. You should get that straight.

I guess I just don't know why you made the comment. Neither the OP, nor probably anyone else, has as their sole concern in life "work at Google/other large company." So I made what I thought was a reasonable leap that you were actually disparaging a hypothetical person's current main goal.

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#12

Post by jamesaguilar »

mahyarm wrote: post #7
stevewilhelm wrote: post #5

Sounds like he reproduced the college experience without a college. Good for him. But in general it's probably more efficient to just to go to college and get a degree.

Even with six figure student loans?

There are many, many solid schools you can go to that would not require six-figure loans. Alternately, if you can be in the top 1% of kids, the best schools, like Stanford, are starting to only charge those who can afford it.

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#15

Post by jmgrosen »

Where are some good resources for learning the details and practical uses of the various algorithms and data structures one should know? Even if I never end up using the information in my line of work, I'm interested in them just out of curiosity (and they probably wouldn't hurt for job interviews, either).

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#16

Post by mseebach »

chrisa wrote: post #13

You mention Ruby on your "become fluent" list, but I get the impression that Google doesn't use much ruby. Is the feeling there that skills in ruby can transfer, or is it more important to focus on Java, C++ or Python?

Being a good developer in any language is pretty transferable. Google isn't going to care if you have to fumble for a few weeks getting comfortable with the syntax.

The important bit is being a good developer, not which language.

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#17

Post by gems »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #11
gems wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My opinion is that it (exactly what I stated, nothing more) is most likely a manifestation of insecurity, rather than a product of anything that's not superficial (desire to help people, for example). I'm not telling you how to lead your life (a fiat), I'm offering an opinion with a suggestion. I give zero shits if what I said applies to you and you decide to stay on the same course. You should get that straight.

I guess I just don't know why you made the comment. Neither the OP, nor probably anyone else, has as their sole concern in life "work at Google/other large company." So I made what I thought was a reasonable leap that you were actually disparaging a hypothetical person's current main goal.

I made the comment because I don't think we should be reaching this level of discussion. We should be discussing something like how we're going to help people, rather than giving each other steps on getting employed. I have a tendency in believing there are better and worse motives. Content like this also shifts the attention away from what is actually important.

It's an opinion, you can ignore it.

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#18

Post by mmanfrin »

As an upstart-from-QA developer with a liberal arts degree, #3 is my biggest concern. I've been reading as much about data structures and theory as I can in preparation for the day I have to interview again. It's scary. I feel I am competent developer, can code well, but I know that there's a glaring hole in my computational vocabulary that will bite me in the ass.

I've been considering trying to see if I can get a masters in CS, to supplement.

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#19

Post by declan »

jmgrosen wrote: post #15

Where are some good resources for learning the details and practical uses of the various algorithms and data structures one should know? Even if I never end up using the information in my line of work, I'm interested in them just out of curiosity (and they probably wouldn't hurt for job interviews, either).

I would look at the syllabus that a sophomore-level computer science class would use, which when I took it was called something like Data Structures and Program Design. Take a look at the books taught at places with good CS departments (like Stanford, CMU, and MIT), and see what ones are most popular. Also a syllabus may have example problems, lecture notes, and previous exams.

Re: Four Steps to Google, Without a Degree

#20

Post by tensafefrogs »

ultimoo wrote: post #8

I believe I am a good engineer, I have heard generally positive things about my professional work, have a college degree, etc. I am however terrified of programming challenges (topcoder, spoj, interview-street, etc.) I have tried solving some problems there using Ruby (back when it was 1.8.x, too slow for these kind of problems) and given up. Maybe I should give it a shot with C. Any ideas how to start, considering t…

Start with the basics of data structures and algorithms. Get a textbook and read it and implement the structures using whatever language you like, and find problems that are solved by using those data structures (and solve them).

Watch computer science lectures on iTunes U. These days all the top schools put their lectures online. Try to do some of the homework assignments. If it's too hard, figure out what part you don't know and find an online course on it. Then try again.

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