Does Learning To Code Outweigh a Degree In Computer Science?

[Kritic]

infact this is another one of my IT buddies. but good thing for him he owns his own business.

 

[Richard Wright]

i used the post as an example to show learning raw code outweighs a cs degree.

At the end of the day this thread is like asking :"does learning to create new chemicals outweigh a chemistry degree?" or "does learning to write outweigh an english degree?"

There is absolutely nothing about being enrolled in a cs degree program that will hinder you as a developer. Not everyone is in a position in which they can just skip college and start a company. I am a great example. I learned to code by taking intro to computer science. If I was not in college on scholarship I would not have learned to code or even been able to afford the laptop I'm writing Python on while im not posting on the coli.

Computer Science is a great discipline. Just because some people dont like math doesnt mean the degree is any less valuable. Because if "learning to code"(whatever the fukk thats supposed to mean) is more valuable than a BS in computer science then it is more valuable than any other college degree. Enrolling in a computer science program is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. But programming is my most valuable asset and it is what keeps my lights on and lets me take my mom groceries from time to time. To act like it's a situation of mutual exclusion is ridiculous.

 

[rapbeats]

This is a thread that i just cant ignore.

first of all, to those of u who keep saying a degree is worth it, u need to find a place to sit down and digest what im about to say.

yes, a degree is always good to have. matter of fact, i will encourage people to strive to get a degree in anything but gymnastics. but the one thing u must never do is take out a loan to go to an expensive school. that has the very strong potential of being one of the worst mistakess u ever make in ur life. go to a county college, or the cheapest college (online schools dont count) you can find, and get ur degree there.

now, as far as management positions are concerned, listen, real programmers have ZERO interests in being managers. we've all had managers and not one programmer would want to do what they do. all we wanna do is sit in front of a computer and come up with innovative ways to accomplish whatever task we have to perform. managers go to meetings all day and they sit there discussing bullsh1t and talking on the phone, going over crap. sh1t like that will incense the genuine programmers.

so most of u who are in this thread arguing against programmers and degrees really dont have a fuccking clue what you're saying.

now see i was going to say this. but i didnt want to step on anyones toes. a true geek boy programmer never wants to be a manager. only in a few instances where a company is smart enough and the geek boy also has a gift of gab and leadership. will he end up in management.

its like telling all the best producers to be rappers(sure some of them are) and dre dont count). we're talking real rappers that write their own stuff. producers want to sit back and produce. let that artist take all that lime light in and hit the club all day everyday like its a job. while the producer hits the studio at club hours, making hot music and hits. still getting a ton of money for the effort, his name is on the credits. but he doesnt have to deal with the everyday BS that comes along with being an artist.

 

[rapbeats]

i will say this. programming is about as close to you're going to get at playing god. think about it. you start with a blank slate. you define everything from scratch. then you put all those things together to create something. imagine if you had the ability to define gravity, and then to implement it in however you saw fit on earth. thats programming in a nutshell.

 

[OCCAMS_RAZOR]

i will say this. programming is about as close to you're going to get at playing god. think about it. you start with a blank slate. you define everything from scratch. then you put all those things together to create something. imagine if you had the ability to define gravity, and then to implement it in however you saw fit on earth. thats programming in a nutshell.

profound. has an element of truth to it though. it's frustrating sometimes, but i like building stuff out of nothing.

 

[TRUEST]

what do you think my post was talking about? sure it showed bridging between different disciplines but by showing HOW its being bridged you will end up showing REAL world applications.

i understand what you're saying. but that bridging of the gap u are talking about has to be more direct. how can what you're are learning be used to put money on the table. that is basically the one question that should be running wild in every student's mind. this is the main reason i have a divine hatred for the schooling system.

i know folks who are smart as fukk, they know how to read a book, understand it and pass it, but these people could not think outside the box if their life depended on it. i dont blame them. the entire schooling system taught them to be a good blue collar worker, a follower, basically. do what every other ant is doing.

u see,the best teachers are those who have worked in the real world and are now teaching. these teachers can draw on their personal work experiences and come up with palatable examples to show their students.

but when you have a professor who has always taught in schools all his professional life, he has no real world experience to pass on to you. he's just fuccking readinng a book back to you. something u can do for yourself!

 

[OCCAMS_RAZOR]

I don't know why place so much emphasis on a degree. I Don't think that we even need a college system, we just need a personality test, an intelligence test, and a generally industry specific exam (cert). I think using college to identify good employees is a waste of time.

I would only hire extroverted, conscientious, leader types, who had a minimum level of intelligence and a minimum level of industry specific knowledge.

At my job, we teach nearly everything to the newbies. and I can size up whether someone is going to be a good worker within moments of meeting them. To be honest, GPA really doesn't seem to correlate with a good employee or high performing employing.


Honestly, I feel that there are people who are born to be winners. These people do what it takes to get the job done. Going to college doesn't seem to make people into goal driven superstars.

And in a professional environment everyone went to college, but I can tell you for sure, that not everyone is at the same intelligence level. Some people learn really fast and don't need a lot of coaching, while others seem to not every get anything and end up having to have me treat them like little kids.

At my job, I feel like I want to fire 80-90% of all the people that are working there.

LOL, one of the realest posts i've ever read on this sort of topic. i feel like the bolded sometimes too even though i'm not an employer. with all the mediocrity i see, i can kind of see how employers might find it difficult employing someone qualified.

I don't know if I'm a goal-driven superstar yet, but i'm definitely trying to be one. these days i'm trying to be more independent / self-reliant. i can understand how it must be tough for a mentor / supervisor to have to do everything for an employee (i.e. treating them like kids).

 

[rapbeats]

i understand what you're saying. but that bridging of the gap u are talking about has to be more direct. how can what you're are learning be used to put money on the table. that is basically the one question that should be running wild in every student's mind. this is the main reason i have a divine hatred for the schooling system.

i know folks who are smart as fukk, they know how to read a book, understand it and pass it, but these people could not think outside the box if their life depended on it. i dont blame them. the entire schooling system taught them to be a good blue collar worker, a follower, basically. do what every other ant is doing.

u see,the best teachers are those who have worked in the real world and are now teaching. these teachers can draw on their personal work experiences and come up with palatable examples to show their students.

but when you have a professor who has always taught in schools all his professional life, he has no real world experience to pass on to you. he's just fuccking readinng a book back to you. something u can do for yourself!

you preaching to the choir friend. but keep preaching. cause you telling the truth. i tell people all the time. "I HATE SCHOOL" but i dont hate learning. i love to learn. There's a difference.

 

[OCCAMS_RAZOR]

you preaching to the choir friend. but keep preaching. cause you telling the truth. i tell people all the time. "I HATE SCHOOL" but i dont hate learning. i love to learn. There's a difference.

bro it's cool if school is not your thing & you were still able to find success anyway. that's commendable. however, there's nothing wrong with having a general education. if your primary goal is to get a job from your degree, then that's a shytty, dishonourable reason to go to school anyways, and you deserve whatever bad luck may come your way. however, ifyour primary goal is to expand your horizons, then yea it's a pretty good idea. i know school is expensive. i know it. but there's very few cases where i'd actively endorse not going to school, especially for a technical degree like computer science.

in summary, be happy that you're setting an exmaple for the folks who flunked out, but i wouldn't start being a 'school sucks' evangelist as you're going to turn away pretty smart, capable ppl for whom school would be a great asset.

 

[OCCAMS_RAZOR]

i understand what you're saying. but that bridging of the gap u are talking about has to be more direct. how can what you're are learning be used to put money on the table. that is basically the one question that should be running wild in every student's mind. this is the main reason i have a divine hatred for the schooling system.

i know folks who are smart as fukk, they know how to read a book, understand it and pass it, but these people could not think outside the box if their life depended on it. i dont blame them. the entire schooling system taught them to be a good blue collar worker, a follower, basically. do what every other ant is doing.

u see,the best teachers are those who have worked in the real world and are now teaching. these teachers can draw on their personal work experiences and come up with palatable examples to show their students.

but when you have a professor who has always taught in schools all his professional life, he has no real world experience to pass on to you. he's just fuccking readinng a book back to you. something u can do for yourself!

real-ass post!!

i'm in a top 10 canadian school, and profs are teaching us from these crufty ass textbooks, shyt that is of absolutely no relevance outside the lecture halls.

but i'd say you're being a bit extreme. you only get out of school what you put into it. there's a lot of folks who went to school and are doing good for themselves. school system is imperfect but it's the best system we've got. so unless you can think of a better alternative, i wouldn't lambast it so vehemently.

 

[Kritic]

This 19-Year-Old Developer Is So Successful, He Turned Down Apple

Last week, 19-year-old John Meyer dropped out of a prestigious university computer-science program to work full time on his tech startup, Fresco News.
His parents weren't happy at first. He was attending NYU where his mom was a professor, he told Business Insider.


But they eventually came around to support him, because they had to admit: Meyer is already a successful independent computer programmer. He's been writing apps since his freshman year in high school, 2008, after teaching himself the programming language Objective C.

And he's been making money at it since his sophomore year of high school, he says.

"Money-wise, I've been pretty fortunate. I've been able to support myself since just a year after I got started," he said.

He's making so much money writing iPhone apps that during his first year of college he could afford to live alone, pay NYU tuition while bootstrapping Fresco, he told Business Insider. Fresco News is a sort of intersection between Instagram, Twitter, and Flipboard that turns photos from ordinary people on the scene of big news events into news stories.

We pressed him to reveal his income but promised not to share it. Let's just say it's on par with what software engineers earn at some of the best tech companies.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-19-year-old-turns-down-apple-2014-9#ixzz3DyIm5tkG





that's what negros should be doing instead of rapping or making beats on fruity loops.
or playing video games.

 

[OCCAMS_RAZOR]

that's what negros should be doing instead of rapping or making beats on fruity loops.
or playing video games.

honestly.

even from an economic perspective you're more likely to strike it rich making an app or froming a startup than making a mixtape. and coding isn't even that hard. we just have to inculcate the young ones to see this as an option. once being an ace programmer becomes the 'cool' thing to do, expect a constellation of prodigious young black computer whizes coming out the wash.

 

[Kritic]

honestly.

even from an economic perspective you're more likely to strike it rich making an app or froming a startup than making a mixtape. and coding isn't even that hard. we just have to inculcate the young ones to see this as an option. once being an ace programmer becomes the 'cool' thing to do, expect a constellation of prodigious young black computer whizes coming out the wash.

i forgot to add arguing about sports/entertainment in any social media/forum.

 

[TRUEST]

honestly.

even from an economic perspective you're more likely to strike it rich making an app or froming a startup than making a mixtape. and coding isn't even that hard. we just have to inculcate the young ones to see this as an option. once being an ace programmer becomes the 'cool' thing to do, expect a constellation of prodigious young black computer whizes coming out the wash.

coding is not about it being hard or not. its about creativity. if youre not creative u aint gonna go nowhere but be a great employee who does what he is told. but i believe black people are generally highly creative, and i'd love to see more of us in this programming world. id like to see blacks excel at things other than sports and music.

 

[rapbeats]

This 19-Year-Old Developer Is So Successful, He Turned Down Apple


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-19-year-old-turns-down-apple-2014-9#ixzz3DyIm5tkG





that's what negros should be doing instead of rapping or making beats on fruity loops.
or playing video games.

well no. everyone is born to be a programmer. yes you can teach yourself. but the guy that has the desire to teach himself programming like that is a different breed of guy to begin with. he's not the guy making beats on his computer. and nothing else.

you cant expect everyone to become an ELITE. its not realistic, thats why they are called ELITE.