totally 100% agree with your second point there. with both an undergrad and masters degree under my belt, the amount of what i learned in those programs that i actually use as a professional programmer is... maybe 10%.
specific technologies are always evolving, there are plenty of resources out there to learn them, and my academic experience gave me pretty much nothing useful in terms of all the non-technical stuff (collaborative coding, specs, estimates, testing, etc. etc.). the one software engineering class i had was a joke (it was all UML and formal software design methods, which, while sometimes used in the real world, are not in my experience used without extensive modification based on the needs and habits of that specific environment).
i think having a CS background is extremely important in that it taught me how to think like a programmer, how to tackle problems logically and how to structure algorithmic solutions. and of course having that piece of paper is still an advantage when interviewing -- but so is a good portfolio.
in general, a CS education prepares you to go on to pursue a PhD in CS. it is not especially tailored to teach you how to make a living as a programmer.
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Date: 2013-03-26 09:08 pm (UTC)specific technologies are always evolving, there are plenty of resources out there to learn them, and my academic experience gave me pretty much nothing useful in terms of all the non-technical stuff (collaborative coding, specs, estimates, testing, etc. etc.). the one software engineering class i had was a joke (it was all UML and formal software design methods, which, while sometimes used in the real world, are not in my experience used without extensive modification based on the needs and habits of that specific environment).
i think having a CS background is extremely important in that it taught me how to think like a programmer, how to tackle problems logically and how to structure algorithmic solutions. and of course having that piece of paper is still an advantage when interviewing -- but so is a good portfolio.
in general, a CS education prepares you to go on to pursue a PhD in CS. it is not especially tailored to teach you how to make a living as a programmer.