You're absolutely right. I guess ideally you want to look for someone who has a good mix of both, real practice experience and academic/reading experience. Too much of one without the other can lead to trouble. As someone already said, reading is just a complement to experience, not a replacement.

Chris Losinger wrote:

you get a compiler, you look for code samples, and then you solve the problem at hand.

Programmers that just learn by 'getting a compiler' and copy/pasting code from the internet are the same that keep on band-aiding the software, instead of coming up with elegant solutions that only books can teach. My point exactly, crappy code will solve the problem. I just don't look for how to solve the problem. I look for how to solve this problem and future problems and make the software robust and scalable.

Chris Losinger wrote:

i've been programming since 1982.

So, have you been using the internet since 1982?

Chris Losinger wrote:

frankly, most classes are even worse. but at least you can ask questions (or take naps) in class.

Ah, I see, in 1982 you were taking naps, nice way to learn C and C++!

If my manager is an idiot, I will win. If you think he'll win, you're a bigger idiot. If you are an exceptional developer with exceptional managers, they will respect you and take your decisions seriously.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Just because you write software and you've been doing it for 10 yrs doesn't mean you're a good programmer. In fact, someone who hasn't had formal training, develops his own habits and methods, and is used to organically grows software that ends up being a nightmare to maintain. Software that works, of course, but highly inefficient and expensive. (I know I'm generalizing but that's the impression I've gotten from my engineers who don't read...) In other words, how do you think this 10yr experienced programmer learned whatever got him in the job in the first place? I don't think there's a way to learn anything without reading, just from classes and going to school is mediocre, you have to go the extra step and teach yourself (by reading) to be exceptional. I don't know anybody who graduated from school with honors without reading (unless maybe me, but I still read a lot, not a nerd but I like to read.) Someone who is interested about reading is someone who's interested about learning and applying new techniques to make the software better, easier and cheaper!

That's like being a Doctor, not a medicine book reader...would you go to that doctor? How about a Lawyer, not a law book reader...would you trust this guy to get you out of jail? OK, taking classes definitely helps, but how do you think the instructor learned what he's teaching? The internet is full of samples, true, but are they trustworthy? efficient? proven to work? Besides, what difference does it make to read form the internet than to read from a book? I know I know, the internet is more convenient, easy to search the exact topic, etc., in other words, it's like a customizable book, you create your own. But it's still reading! What I can't stand about programming books is that they are so expensive!

I heard they're going back to the good ol' blue screen of death. We all miss it so much.

The product my company makes money off of is a 100% ASP.NET web application. It handles over 7Mill searches per day. It's ranked about 4,900+ most visited site on the web (Google being #1).