The case against CS master's degrees
ozwrites.com
The case against CS master's degrees
1–10 of 47 posts
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#2And then there's my old manager who found a negative correlation between a programmer's ability and them holding a PhD in CS. FWIW, he had a MS in Software Engineering himself and he said that the correlation only seemed to hold for CS PhD's, not PhD's in other sciences. My department had a number of PhD's, but only one in CS and that one was hired a few years after that manager left.
Correlation isn't causation and all that, but it does bias you a certain way.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#3It's sad that his page about self-studying CS [1] does not include any book specific to the Theory of Computation and Computational Complexity.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#4I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confuse the brain. I know one fancy CS major who dismissed a problem as unsolveable because it was NP-complete. He missed the fact that the dimensions of the problem were such that a quick heuristic did perfectly fine.
The sad thing is that large parts of the curriculum aren't that valuable. Data structures used to be my favorite, but today it's not that important because we stick everything in hash tables or database tables. We rarely use LISTS!
The same goes for compilers. No one writes a compiler any more. Apple just repurposed LLVM when they made Swift. But all of the undergraduates have to pull their hair out making toy compilers and for what end?
Most of the CS curriculum is pretty extraneous. This is why many companies are deliberately hiring technically competent people from tech fields like physics or chemistry. They learn practical skills to analyze their data-- the kind of practical skills needed by corporations not theory heads.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#5I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confu…
In my experience, the biggest reason doing a bachelors in CS sucks is because it's a massive waste of time, leaving little to no time for side projects. Programming assignment questions tend to be vague and come with poorly scoped requirements. Usually the professor also forgets to tell you several essential details or has made several errors in the code. An average assignment can take upwards of 40 hours, with 10 or more of those hours spent because the professor was too lazy to check over their assignment for 30 minutes before handing it out. The saying that A students work for C students really makes sense in this context. A students never got the chance to work on what they wanted!
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#6I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confu…
90% of my job is get data from database, handle concurrency, show data to user, save data changed by user. I literally could most likely do my job with 0 CS.
However, CS exposed me to a lot of different concepts, algorithms, a lot of math. I obtained an associate degree before getting my BS in CS and I did not unlock the key to learning until the CS degree. I feel like I can quickly pick up different things now. I was able to build a 5ft tall retaining wall and submit plans to the city then execute the project. I literally can perform almost all jobs on my car, except machining engine blocks as I lack the equipment. I completely remodeled my house, learning different building codes.
I feel a BS in CS gives someone a huge advantage, they have proven they can accomplish something, and should also have unlocked the key to learning that works for them.
I am not sure if MS in CS is worth it though. I thought about it myself but would probably go with MBA instead.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#7I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confu…
In my experience, the biggest reason doing a bachelors in CS sucks is because it's a massive waste of time, leaving little to no time for side projects. Programming assignment questions tend to be vague and come with poorly scoped requirements. Usually the professor also forgets to tell you several essential details or has made several errors in the code. An average assignment can take upwards of 40 hours, with 10 or…
I'm only being partially snarky when I say that sounds like a great preparation for working in a production environment.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#8I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confu…
I don't know if anyone (anymore) thinks that computer science is the same as software development. Knowing the latest library APIs, versus doing research to find a faster hash sort, are two different areas, IMO. I also wonder about the different industries and how they compare (SaaS vs CGI vs HFT).
I think if you want to forge new roads in programming, a little theoretical studying doesn't hurt, so why not explore a university degree.
I also do not enjoy the endless debates around self-taught versus schooling. I've seen real-life anecdotes from both viewpoints and find that it's too subjective for anyone to declare anything from either side. I personally don't recommend people jump out and grab a CS degree, but there are some good programs out there.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#9I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confu…
90% of my job is get data from database, handle concurrency, show data to user, save data changed by user. I literally could most likely do my job with 0 CS. However, CS exposed me to a lot of different concepts, algorithms, a lot of math. I obtained an associate degree before getting my BS in CS and I did not unlock the key to learning until the CS degree. I feel like I can quickly pick up different things now. I wa…
Your point is valid but you can also prove you can accomplish something while also actually accomplishing something meaningful. For example you complete one of your side projects instead of a meaningless assignment. Sure, the side project might not actually succeed, but at least it had a chance. I also feel like 95% of the key to learning are hard deadlines with consequences.
Also, to varying degrees, every justification for doing a CS degree has smelled like an attempt at rationalizing a poor decision.
Re: The case against CS master's degrees
#10I hate to be super-negative, but I'm not even sure a bachelors in CS is a good idea. Oh sure, you learn a few good things along the way, but then the professors start dragging you down their favorite theoretical paths. I'm all for philosophizing and navel gazing, but there's not much practical in things like lambda calculus, NP-completeness and some of the other topics. To make matters worse, these pursuits can confu…
In my experience, the biggest reason doing a bachelors in CS sucks is because it's a massive waste of time, leaving little to no time for side projects. Programming assignment questions tend to be vague and come with poorly scoped requirements. Usually the professor also forgets to tell you several essential details or has made several errors in the code. An average assignment can take upwards of 40 hours, with 10 or…
At U of Washington you get to choose your own senior project (so I've heard firsthand).