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  3. 8 years of college and can't program?

8 years of college and can't program?

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  • N newton saber

    Here's a snippet from this great article and great author, James Altucher... [-- Only one problem: when I arrived at the job, after 8 years of learning how to program in an academic environment—I couldn’t program. I won’t get into the details. But I had no clue. I couldn’t even turn on a computer. It was a mess. I think I even ruined people’s lives while trying to do my job. --] https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140506232520-5858595-10-things-entrepreneurs-don-t-learn-in-college?trk=object-title[^]

    E Offline
    E Offline
    Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
    wrote on last edited by
    #9

    Not everyone should be a programmer.

    Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost "All users always want Excel" --Ennis Lynch

    N J 2 Replies Last reply
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    • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

      Not everyone should be a programmer.

      Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost "All users always want Excel" --Ennis Lynch

      N Offline
      N Offline
      newton saber
      wrote on last edited by
      #10

      Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

      Not everyone should be a programmer.

      So true and yet so difficult to convince those who shouldn't be that they shouldn't be. I've worked with at least one terrible programmer -- who did not even understand the basic concept of function calls, so he had thousands of lines of same, slightly altered, for loop peppered through a program which had the same bug throughout. He could not be convinced of his powers of terribleness and could not be deterred from writing more bad code. Blithely they roll on. :)

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      • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

        College?! Not university... ;)

        I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)

        Z Offline
        Z Offline
        ZurdoDev
        wrote on last edited by
        #11

        Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote:

        College?! Not university

        Do those have a different meaning where you are at?

        There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

        Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK C G 3 Replies Last reply
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        • Z ZurdoDev

          Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote:

          College?! Not university

          Do those have a different meaning where you are at?

          There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
          Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
          Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
          wrote on last edited by
          #12

          Yes. Definitely. Around here universities (5 or 6) are for theory and colleges (100) is much for learning how to do things de-facto... Also a year in college cost about twice the price of a year in university. The final degree is the same (BA) but the real content is very different.

          I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)

          "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

          Z 1 Reply Last reply
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          • Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

            Yes. Definitely. Around here universities (5 or 6) are for theory and colleges (100) is much for learning how to do things de-facto... Also a year in college cost about twice the price of a year in university. The final degree is the same (BA) but the real content is very different.

            I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)

            Z Offline
            Z Offline
            ZurdoDev
            wrote on last edited by
            #13

            Hm. In the US they are interchangeable. Interesting.

            There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

            Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK L J 3 Replies Last reply
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            • Z ZurdoDev

              Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter wrote:

              College?! Not university

              Do those have a different meaning where you are at?

              There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

              C Offline
              C Offline
              chriselst
              wrote on last edited by
              #14

              They do in the UK. College is where children (and some adults) go after school to get low level vocational qualifications or to get skills up to a level to go to university. University is where adults go to get degrees or higher qualifications. Although it used to be different, there used to be polytechnics for vocational qualifications and universities for academic qualifications but the polytechnics had pretensions of grandeur and soon both were called universities. This happened the year I first went to university IIRC. Traditional universities are made up of a number of colleges, but that is more of a tribal thing than an educational thing, and they are not related to the colleges from above.

              Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

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              • Z ZurdoDev

                Hm. In the US they are interchangeable. Interesting.

                There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

                Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                Kornfeld Eliyahu PeterK Offline
                Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter
                wrote on last edited by
                #15

                Just to understand how colleges are rule here - in my crew (12) no one went to university...

                I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)

                "It never ceases to amaze me that a spacecraft launched in 1977 can be fixed remotely from Earth." ― Brian Cox

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • N newton saber

                  Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

                  Not everyone should be a programmer.

                  So true and yet so difficult to convince those who shouldn't be that they shouldn't be. I've worked with at least one terrible programmer -- who did not even understand the basic concept of function calls, so he had thousands of lines of same, slightly altered, for loop peppered through a program which had the same bug throughout. He could not be convinced of his powers of terribleness and could not be deterred from writing more bad code. Blithely they roll on. :)

                  E Offline
                  E Offline
                  Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #16

                  I was a warehouse person at a company. My job was to receive inventory, stock inventory, ship inventory, etc. I managed to hit myself in the head with a steel rod and get a knot large enough to almost consider a hospital visit. Many questions were asked, "Are you Ok" "Do you need to go to the doctor" "Why was there a steel rod in your hand" "How come we heard light-saber noises before your injury" etc. Bottom-line, warehouse work is not for me. I don't have the capacity for it. I know that, it is my limit. Others should learn theirs as well.

                  Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost "All users always want Excel" --Ennis Lynch

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Z ZurdoDev

                    Hm. In the US they are interchangeable. Interesting.

                    There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #17

                    RyanDev wrote:

                    In the US they are interchangeable

                    Ehhhh... not exactly. A University is made up of colleges. The College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Law, etc...

                    Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington

                    Z F 2 Replies Last reply
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                    • L Lost User

                      RyanDev wrote:

                      In the US they are interchangeable

                      Ehhhh... not exactly. A University is made up of colleges. The College of Engineering, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Law, etc...

                      Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington

                      Z Offline
                      Z Offline
                      ZurdoDev
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #18

                      Mike Mullikin wrote:

                      Ehhhh... not exactly

                      Yes. But people still say, "I'm going to college" way more than "I'm going to university." In fact, I can't recall ever hearing anyone saying, "after high school, I'm going to university."

                      There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

                      L K 2 Replies Last reply
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                      • Z ZurdoDev

                        Mike Mullikin wrote:

                        Ehhhh... not exactly

                        Yes. But people still say, "I'm going to college" way more than "I'm going to university." In fact, I can't recall ever hearing anyone saying, "after high school, I'm going to university."

                        There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #19

                        True

                        Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • N newton saber

                          Here's a snippet from this great article and great author, James Altucher... [-- Only one problem: when I arrived at the job, after 8 years of learning how to program in an academic environment—I couldn’t program. I won’t get into the details. But I had no clue. I couldn’t even turn on a computer. It was a mess. I think I even ruined people’s lives while trying to do my job. --] https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140506232520-5858595-10-things-entrepreneurs-don-t-learn-in-college?trk=object-title[^]

                          R Offline
                          R Offline
                          Ravi Bhavnani
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #20

                          I liked the first reply to this article. :) "I stopped reading half way though this because the article has nothing to do with entrepreneurship or college. This is a long rant about somebody who lived a sheltered life and got hit hard when they came to the "real world"." /ravi

                          My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

                          R 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • Z ZurdoDev

                            Quote:

                            8 years of college and can't program?

                            I would expect that someone who takes 8 years to get through college can barely tie their own shoes.

                            There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

                            G Offline
                            G Offline
                            GrumbleDuke
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #21

                            What are shoes?

                            Z 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • G GrumbleDuke

                              What are shoes?

                              Z Offline
                              Z Offline
                              ZurdoDev
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #22

                              GrumbleDuke wrote:

                              What are shoes?

                              Ah, I see you went to community college.

                              There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • C chriselst

                                They do in the UK. College is where children (and some adults) go after school to get low level vocational qualifications or to get skills up to a level to go to university. University is where adults go to get degrees or higher qualifications. Although it used to be different, there used to be polytechnics for vocational qualifications and universities for academic qualifications but the polytechnics had pretensions of grandeur and soon both were called universities. This happened the year I first went to university IIRC. Traditional universities are made up of a number of colleges, but that is more of a tribal thing than an educational thing, and they are not related to the colleges from above.

                                Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

                                I Offline
                                I Offline
                                irneb
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #23

                                Same here in South Africa. Though we have Universities for the "degrees" and Technical Colleges (abr. Technicon) for vocational qualifications (i.e. Diploma instead of Degree). Or at least that's how it used to be (when I was at uni) until someone thought it sounded not too Politically Correct and now you can get your B.Comm / B.Sc / B.Funny at a tech as well ... :omg:

                                R 1 Reply Last reply
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                                • N newton saber

                                  Here's a snippet from this great article and great author, James Altucher... [-- Only one problem: when I arrived at the job, after 8 years of learning how to program in an academic environment—I couldn’t program. I won’t get into the details. But I had no clue. I couldn’t even turn on a computer. It was a mess. I think I even ruined people’s lives while trying to do my job. --] https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140506232520-5858595-10-things-entrepreneurs-don-t-learn-in-college?trk=object-title[^]

                                  Sander RosselS Offline
                                  Sander RosselS Offline
                                  Sander Rossel
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #24

                                  We had an intern who was in his fourth year of college (not university, but something more practical), and he couldn't write a single line of code. He studied for Application Developer. The name of his study was Application Development. He had courses like Programming, Databases, Design and what have you. He couldn't write a single line of code... Literally. When I first sat down with him he 'forgot' how to declare a variable in multiple languages (we tried VB and C#). According to his teacher database design was his strong point, but he couldn't design a basic master-detail structure (he put the detail id in the header and couldn't figure out what was wrong even when I pointed it out). Here is the sad part. He graduated the same year! :omg: :wtf: :confused::~ :| X| I lost the little bit of faith I had in our schooling system, and humanity as a whole, the day I heard he graduated...

                                  It's an OO world.

                                  public class SanderRossel : Lazy<Person>
                                  {
                                  public void DoWork()
                                  {
                                  throw new NotSupportedException();
                                  }
                                  }

                                  S N B 3 Replies Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C chriselst

                                    They do in the UK. College is where children (and some adults) go after school to get low level vocational qualifications or to get skills up to a level to go to university. University is where adults go to get degrees or higher qualifications. Although it used to be different, there used to be polytechnics for vocational qualifications and universities for academic qualifications but the polytechnics had pretensions of grandeur and soon both were called universities. This happened the year I first went to university IIRC. Traditional universities are made up of a number of colleges, but that is more of a tribal thing than an educational thing, and they are not related to the colleges from above.

                                    Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

                                    S Offline
                                    S Offline
                                    Simon ORiordan from UK
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #25

                                    "University is where adults go " ROFL! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

                                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • S Simon ORiordan from UK

                                      "University is where adults go " ROFL! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

                                      C Offline
                                      C Offline
                                      chriselst
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #26

                                      Well that took a lot longer than expected. What is the correct term for those who are no longer legally children but not yet able to act like adults. Twats perhaps?

                                      Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.

                                      I 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                                        We had an intern who was in his fourth year of college (not university, but something more practical), and he couldn't write a single line of code. He studied for Application Developer. The name of his study was Application Development. He had courses like Programming, Databases, Design and what have you. He couldn't write a single line of code... Literally. When I first sat down with him he 'forgot' how to declare a variable in multiple languages (we tried VB and C#). According to his teacher database design was his strong point, but he couldn't design a basic master-detail structure (he put the detail id in the header and couldn't figure out what was wrong even when I pointed it out). Here is the sad part. He graduated the same year! :omg: :wtf: :confused::~ :| X| I lost the little bit of faith I had in our schooling system, and humanity as a whole, the day I heard he graduated...

                                        It's an OO world.

                                        public class SanderRossel : Lazy<Person>
                                        {
                                        public void DoWork()
                                        {
                                        throw new NotSupportedException();
                                        }
                                        }

                                        S Offline
                                        S Offline
                                        Simon ORiordan from UK
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #27

                                        Of course, I went to London University, which meant going to a college and, after three years, being able to use BSc(Eng)(Lond) after my name. I studied Aeronautics at the world's first Aeronautics faculty at QMC. We 'ad it 'ard. We had about three lectures on computing and were expected to pick up how to use the card batch system on our ICL 1904 mainframe for Fortran 4 programmes which solved equations - Runge-Kutta, Newtonian or plain algebra - and that was it. In my final year I chose a full year project, simulating Harriers in full 6 DOF, still in Fortran 4. By the time I did my first Masters (Cranfield, 1 year), the die was cast and I was hooked on engineering programming. Nice work if you can get it, but while my degrees gave me general engineering sense and domain knowledge, programming was self-taught.

                                        Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • N newton saber

                                          Here's a snippet from this great article and great author, James Altucher... [-- Only one problem: when I arrived at the job, after 8 years of learning how to program in an academic environment—I couldn’t program. I won’t get into the details. But I had no clue. I couldn’t even turn on a computer. It was a mess. I think I even ruined people’s lives while trying to do my job. --] https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140506232520-5858595-10-things-entrepreneurs-don-t-learn-in-college?trk=object-title[^]

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          JHubSharp
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #28

                                          I hope the article is exaggerating a bit, but I agree with the general statement. After 4 years of writing arrays and data structures and OS fundamentals I got out of school and landed a VB.Net job as a contractor on a team of 1 to build a web app. I had never written in .Net or any decent OO language (VB6 doesn't count). Most of our C++ in college was all functional recursive stuff. I had a ton of concepts to learn, an IDE to understand, deployment to think about, SOLID principles, etc. A friend of mine did a vocational school instead and hit the ground running when he finished. 10 years later we've both ended up as strong technologists but I would have had a much easier go had I learned things applicable upside of academia. I think the only thing I learned from my 4 year BS degree (no pun intended) that I haven't relearned is what O(n) means.

                                          N 1 Reply Last reply
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