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- Path: qualcomm.com!not-for-mail
- From: drew@qualcomm.com (Drew Eckhardt)
- Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.programming
- Subject: Re: Self taught?
- Followup-To: comp.programming
- Date: 16 Feb 1996 16:08:30 -0700
- Organization: QUALCOMM, Incorporated; Boulder, CO, USA
- Message-ID: <4g32pe$7i7@qualcomm.com>
- References: <3124e9b7.3026723@news.winternet.com>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: littlebear.qualcomm.com
-
- I've redirected followups to comp.programming, since this topic is
- more appropriate for that group.
-
- In article <3124e9b7.3026723@news.winternet.com>,
- <murmur@winternet.com> wrote:
- >Just wondering what the professionals here think about the odds of a
- >self taught non CS or MIS or anything S major *grin* getting a decent
- >job as a c++ programmer.
-
- I know exceptional programmers with a degree in philosophy, math, history,
- or none at all; and more than a few marginal examples with Master and PHD
- degrees in CS.
-
- My experience has been that the places you'd want to work (interesting
- new projects, minimal bureaucratic overhead, competant team members,
- shoe choice of Teva, Birkenstock, or bare foot, enough resources to make
- your job pleasant, fun toys, etc.) are willing to place people based on
- talent.
-
- Assuming you're good, the logical conclusion from those points results
- in having your choice of jobs.
-
- >I have a BA in psych and most of an MA in counseling and have decided I
- >don't much wanna be a psychologist anymore. Always have liked computers.
- >Know BASIC, and pascal...taught myself the basics of c++ and am beginning
- >to work on understanding the OWL. I'll probably end up taking a c++ class
- >from a local tech college.
-
- Just as learning English won't make you a competant novelist or poet,
- learning C++ won't make you a decent programmer/software engineer/title
- du jour. Along similar lines, knowing "Software Engineering" or
- "Computer Science" with no practical experience won't either.
-
- You'll need to pick up a few "software engineering" methods, be able to
- adapt to different tools (the right language or other tool for the job
- can mean an order of magnitude difference in the time you spend on something),
- the ability to come up with alternate sollutions, the patience to think
- through them and select the best rather than rushing into implementation of
- the first, how to keep your code maintainable, how to avoid making mistakes
- which won't manifest immediately, how to track down bugs efficiently, etc.
-
- Pick software projects you're interested in (check book balancing program,
- toy language, mail filter, game, OS kernel, whatever) and implement them.
- See what makes your life miserable if you try to deal with your code six
- months or a few years down the road, and stop doing it. When you screw
- up, figure out what you did, and come up with a plan for avoiding the same
- mistake again, or make it more aparant when it does happen. Pay attention,
- you'll become more reasonable as a programmer, and have some experience to show
- potential employers.
-
- >Is there room for essentially self taught programmers?
-
- Sure, although you'll need to compete based on past performance (free
- software can help you squeeze in the door here), skill, and knowledge
- rather than paper qualifications.
-
- --
- Four boxes : soap, ballot, jury, ammo. | Work: drew@Qualcomm.COM
- Use in that order. | Play: drew@PoohSticks.ORG
-