11-19-2012, 03:20 PM | #16 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 744
Karma: 9545975
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
That's true of recent graduates as well as experienced candidates - I'm getting heartily fed up of university Computer Science departments which (at least here in the UK) don't regard programming as worth teaching. The focus is on formal logic, lambda calculus etc. which, while clearly interesting and worth study, on its own misses the point - computers have to be programmed, and without the basic skills the rest is fairly pointless. I have interviewed graduates with first class degrees from top-class universities who have proudly proclaimed that they've never written any code. What's the point in that? /JB |
|
11-19-2012, 03:42 PM | #17 |
Interested Bystander
Posts: 3,726
Karma: 19728152
Join Date: Jun 2008
Device: Note 4, Kobo One
|
Do address the original question from the other point of view, I think most good programmers would make very poor creative writers.
They would present facts clearly in short declarative statements, there would be no art to their writing at all. Good code is clear and easy to understand. Good writing uses a huge variety of tricks and methods to give more than the just facts contained in a sentence, but also to add colour and depth, to create a particular feeling in the mind of the reader. |
Advert | |
|
11-19-2012, 04:01 PM | #18 | |
Illiterate newbie
Posts: 661
Karma: 1702090
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Finland
Device: Sony PRS-T1
|
Quote:
I'm not even CS major, but in Communications Engineering-program, and we have at least 2 mandatory courses(Java/Python and C). I think the CS-program have some more here. Personally I have taken around 5 courses on coding, two with some assembly coding in it and now on applied course... And even with my experience I think I'm not near anything professionally required... Some of the stuff does help, like language theory and data-structures and algorithms, but I have no idea how one would use them in meaningfull way without knowledge of atleast basics in programming... |
|
11-19-2012, 04:03 PM | #19 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 744
Karma: 9545975
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
/JB |
|
11-19-2012, 04:09 PM | #20 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 744
Karma: 9545975
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
That was pretty much my response! To clarify, it appeared that they had done some programming courses, but that passing those courses hadn't actually required them to do any programming. Bizarre!
Quote:
Engineering courses, particularly Electronic Engineering, do better and generally teach much more useful programming skills than CS courses, in my experience (again, UK-specific). /JB |
|
Advert | |
|
11-19-2012, 04:09 PM | #21 |
Not scared!
Posts: 13,424
Karma: 81011643
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Midlands, UK
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10, Huawei M5 10
|
|
11-19-2012, 04:11 PM | #22 | |
Award-Winning Participant
Posts: 7,349
Karma: 67930154
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: NJ, USA
Device: Kindle
|
Quote:
Also, there seems to a high correlation of coding skill and musical ability. I see coding as just as much a creative, expressive endeavor as writing or playing music. And on the original point (as gleaned from skimming the thread, not reading the linked article) I definitely think that skills involved in writing a clear thesis or organizing a plot have to overlap the skills in coding clear procedures and organizing control structures. ApK |
|
11-19-2012, 04:15 PM | #23 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 744
Karma: 9545975
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
/JB |
|
11-19-2012, 04:18 PM | #24 |
Not scared!
Posts: 13,424
Karma: 81011643
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Midlands, UK
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10, Huawei M5 10
|
Yes. I absolutely agree with you. Even if you go on to a career in IT that doesn't require programming skills, an appreciation of such skills is definitely advantageous.
|
11-19-2012, 04:19 PM | #25 |
Interested Bystander
Posts: 3,726
Karma: 19728152
Join Date: Jun 2008
Device: Note 4, Kobo One
|
|
11-19-2012, 04:20 PM | #26 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 27,962
Karma: 198500000
Join Date: Jan 2010
Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD
|
Quote:
I used to work for a company that preferred hiring programmers with a musical background/aptitude. |
|
11-19-2012, 04:29 PM | #27 | ||
Illiterate newbie
Posts: 661
Karma: 1702090
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Finland
Device: Sony PRS-T1
|
Quote:
Quote:
There is some fields which don't require it, but for others I think at least some grasp of actual process would be very helpful. |
||
11-19-2012, 04:35 PM | #28 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 744
Karma: 9545975
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
/JB |
|
11-19-2012, 04:41 PM | #29 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 744
Karma: 9545975
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
Those languages are great for getting stuff done (in appropriate application areas), but they leave huge gaps in understanding about how computers actually work - the programming model they present is significantly divorced from real machine architectures and my experience with students who've been taught primarily languages like these is that they have to "unlearn" a lot of stuff before they can become truly good programmers. /JB Last edited by jbjb; 11-19-2012 at 04:43 PM. Reason: fixed typo |
|
11-19-2012, 04:50 PM | #30 | |
Interested Bystander
Posts: 3,726
Karma: 19728152
Join Date: Jun 2008
Device: Note 4, Kobo One
|
Quote:
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Troubleshooting screen is bad | anywho | Amazon Kindle | 8 | 09-10-2012 11:28 AM |
I've done a very bad thing... | jlmwrite | Amazon Kindle | 29 | 01-07-2011 06:11 AM |
Is this a bad battery or what? | Dave W | Sony Reader | 9 | 01-24-2010 06:19 AM |
link bad? | sassanik | Feedback | 1 | 04-13-2009 12:25 PM |
bad card, or bad card reader, or... ? | zelda_pinwheel | Fictionwise eBookwise | 5 | 02-08-2008 10:32 AM |