|
|
Damn you, Elisha! You were supposed to keep the skills we learned in school a secret so we'd have a competitive advantage over the unschooled. 
|
|
|
|
|
Wonde Tadesse
|
|
|
|
|
AspDotNetDev wrote: to keep the skills we learned in school a secret so we'd have a competitive advantage over the unschooled.
If you're referring to binge drinking, then yeah. But if you're referring to C.S. skills learned in school, I would have to say, I've never needed them, and the PhD's that had them simply wrote horrible, inefficient algorithms that expressed the algorithmic theory but none of the practicality. I hope things are different now than 25 years ago when that was my experience. But somehow I doubt it, given my continuing experience with people with one or more of Bullshit, More of the Same, and Piled Higher and Deeper degrees. 
Marc
|
|
|
|
|
I'm pretty sure I'm a more sophisticated developer than I would have been had I not gone to college. For example, I'd probably have no appreciate for compiler construction and have any idea why semicolons to end a line are a good idea. Also, getting my CS degree gave me a lot of time to contemplate algorithms and patterns freely, without the restrictions of work deadlines (which can lead you to the quick/easy solution, rather than the best one).
Sure, I've seen some "interesting" styles from PhD CS graduates (note: I just got a BS), but not nearly as garbled and lacking as what I've seen from non-graduates.
Still, comparing somebody fresh out of college against somebody with the same number of years of experience on the job, and the on the job programmer may very well be superior (in terms of productivity). However, compare them both after another 2 years on the job, and I would guess the graduate will have an advantage or will be learning practical skills much faster than the non-graduate.
Marc Clifton wrote: bullsh*t, More of the Same, and Piled Higher and Deeper
|
|
|
|
|
And the top 5 skills lacking in programmers coming out of college:
1. Being able to write something other than "Hello World"
2. Using a modern IDE like Visual Studio.
3. Having concrete (vs. theory) experience in database design
4. Having the skills for reasoning out problems before they happen
5. Having the skills for reasoning out why a problem happened when it happens
I've encountered all of the above issues with people fresh out of college, including prestigious colleges / universities, most notably #1 and #2. I kid you not regarding #1. We had hired this kid out of college with a Computer Science degree, he knew all the stuff mentioned in that blog, and actually, could not write a "Hello World" program in C++ sitting in front of the computer. WTF? Granted, that was many years ago, and I have had experiences that are exceptions, but they still seem rare.
Marc
|
|
|
|
|
Agree. But generally we could say lack of experience.
Wonde Tadesse
|
|
|
|
|
This is the worst piece of junk I have ever seen written by an opinionated but clueless idiot.
Sixty years ago, there was no BS program in Computer Science in any University. PhD, yes, maybe MS.
People with degrees in Engineering, Math, Philosophy, Music or Psychology were employed as programmers.
They put man on the moon and brought him back.
Just because someone has a BS in Computer Science doesn't mean he has half an ounce of brain.
In fact, you can pretty much say that these are the folks who run after the latest frameworks, languages, application packages, etc.
The only thing they can say are the crappy names (they think they are cute) such as Java, Java Beans, Coffee Script, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
Vivic wrote: Just because someone has a BS in Computer Science doesn't mean he has half an ounce of brain.
Upvoted; no talk of a WinProc or a message-pump in class. Not a word on fibers. Not a minute of minidump.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]
|
|
|
|
|
Yeah, right. I'm entirely self-taught. There hasn't been a CS class that I've walked into where I didn't already know the book cover-to-cover. I never finished my degree, but I, in my current job, replaced a guy who had a BS in Computer Science. The problem with him was that he didn't even know how to drag and drop to copy a file! It feels like there are "paper" degree's just like the old "paper" CNEs. All book smart, no brains.
|
|
|
|
|
The notes fall into the following categories: notes about the cost of commonly used OCaml constructs and general recommendations that might help speed up OCaml code; notes on reading OCaml assembly code so that you may understand what your own OCaml programs do on the CPU. When possible I have tried to motivate these with snippets of assembly code generated by ocamlopt. OCaml's Razor: If you understand any of this, you probably already know it.
|
|
|
|
|
By 2010, HFT accounted for more than 60 percent of all U.S. equity volume and seemed positioned to swallow the rest. Swanson, tired of Citi’s bureaucracy, left, and in mid-2011 opened his own HFT firm. The private equity firm Technology Crossover Ventures gave him tens of millions to open a trading shop, which he called Eladian Partners. If things went well, TCV would kick in another multimillion-dollar round in 2012. But things didn’t go well. The fourth law of robotics: always be closing.
|
|
|
|
|
Today is Leonhard Euler's 306th birthday. Euler was one of the most influential and prolific mathematicians in history. He had published over 800 papers and 20 books, making him the greatest contributor in mathematics.... In this article, we'll try to understand the most beautiful equation in all of mathematics: eiπ+1=0 It connects the five most important constants of mathematics and three most important mathematical operations - addition, multiplication and exponentiation. So, how did Euler arrived at this result? As n tends to infinity... and beyond.
|
|
|
|
|
Quote: Euler's Equation reaches down into the very depths of existence
Seriously? I love math, and think the equation is cool, but I don't think it has metaphysical properties...
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
|
|
|
|
|
IMO deriving the formula from the complex plane[^] is a more natural explanation.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
|
|
|
|
|
Today, the Guardian newspaper confirmed what EFF (and many others) have long claimed: the NSA is conducting widespread, untargeted, domestic surveillance on millions of Americans.... In plain language: the order gave the NSA a record of every Verizon customer’s call history -- every call made, the location of the phone, the time of the call, the duration of the call, and other “identifying information” for the phone and call. Dear NSA, please tell me which phone/data plan best suits my usage patterns.
|
|
|
|
|
Gives a whole new meaning to, "Can you hear me now?"
BDF
The internet makes dumb people dumber and clever people cleverer.
-- PaulowniaK
|
|
|
|
|
But wait, there's more: NSA taps in to internet giants' systems to mine user data, secret files reveal[^]
Quote: The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.
The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows them to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.
Director of Content Development, The Code Project
|
|
|
|
|
The CIA via Blackrock investments was one of the early investors in FB. What else did anybody expect. Me, I don't have anything to hide, so this isn't going to affect me. Not that I even live in the US.
|
|
|
|
|
On World Environment Day, we are proud to announce that Internet Explorer continues to be the most energy-efficient browser on Windows 8, according to the Center for Sustainable Energy Systems at Fraunhofer USA. When compared to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer uses up to 18% less energy. This means that if every Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox user in the United States switched to Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 for a year, the energy saved could power over 10,000 households in the United States for that year. The browsers we use can have an impact on the environment. I am not making this up.
|
|
|
|
|
I wonder if they measured the energy consumption when running WebGL graphics in all 3 browsers as well. Oh wait, failed test methodology is failed
|
|
|
|
|
We web developers are the limiting reagent of every start-up experiment, we’re the sine qua non, because we’re the only ones who know how to reify app ideas as actual working software. In fact, we are so much the essence of these small companies that, in Silicon Valley, a start-up with no revenue is said to be worth exactly the number of developers it has on staff. The rule of thumb is that each one counts for $1 million. It helps that there aren’t enough of us to go around. I am coder, hear me roar.
|
|
|
|
|
Joseph Brown, the guy behind the recent string of hacked carrier updates, has posted a rather interesting report this morning on why he thinks the hacks have been so successful. And the reason may just surprise you.
Apple wouldn't throttle...Oh, I guess they would.
|
|
|
|
|
So tired of carriers trying to fool their customers, like we're stupid or something.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
|
|
|
|
|
Developers are Authors
This is truly a concept that has only dawned on me recently - in fact, probably within the past day or two. The ironic part about this, I’ve actually considered myself an author for the past 3 years, since the release of my first book. And most developers I meet or work with seem to have the same reaction when I tell them, “Oh you’re an author, that’s pretty cool.” When in fact – as the title states – all developers are authors, including you! Now let me tell you why.
As I stated at the start of the article, this is really new information to me, but has had a really strong impact on the way I think. Firstly, I cannot take any credit for this statement as I read it in a book. If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that the name of the book is Clean Code by Robert C. Martin – the initiator of agile software development and extreme programming.
I love the comparison about the @author tag being always that as the creator versus its intent - the author.
|
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
