4 ms·

Understanding grammar and spelling (more generally: communication) is one of some of the most important skills you can possibly learn. Go take an English Comp c

Understanding grammar and spelling (more generally: communication) is one of some of the most important skills you can possibly learn. Go take an English Comp class, or something similar. It'll pay huge dividends for the next 40 years of your life, far more so than knowing one more programming language possibly could.

bdcravens 11y ago
Then after English Comp, take Public Speaking. You'll hate it, but you need it.
spiffyman 11y ago
This is critical. IME, you're probably not going to get very good at programming while in school. That only comes with doing it several hours a day for a long time. So, certainly work on being efficient so that you can finish up the degree, but don't think about it much beyond that. You'll get there, and realistic people don't expect brilliant programmers right out of undergrad. On the other hand, I haven't yet had a job where written communication wasn't important from virtually day one. You may start out thinking, "Oh, I'm just going to code," but in reality you have to talk to clients (even if they're your coworkers), your bosses, prospective hires, etc., and this often takes the form of written communication. If you write unintelligibly to a customer or your CEO about why a feature is taking a while to implement, you're going to have a bad time. If you issue a poorly-worded question to a prospective hire, you'll muddy the waters in an already difficult decision. And there's no substitute for dodging the heat with a well-worded CYA email. Learn to write precisely and concisely. Rhetoric classes, if your uni offers them, are a great investment.
Spoom 11y ago
Agreed. Without the professional communications class I took in college, I likely wouldn't have had the same success in my freelancing business.

4 ms·

Understanding grammar and spelling (more generally: communication) is one of some of the most important skills you can possibly learn. Go take an English Comp c

by aaronbrethorst 11y ago

bdcravens 11y ago
Then after English Comp, take Public Speaking. You'll hate it, but you need it.
spiffyman 11y ago
This is critical. IME, you're probably not going to get very good at programming while in school. That only comes with doing it several hours a day for a long time. So, certainly work on being efficient so that you can finish up the degree, but don't think about it much beyond that. You'll get there, and realistic people don't expect brilliant programmers right out of undergrad. On the other hand, I haven't yet had a job where written communication wasn't important from virtually day one. You may start out thinking, "Oh, I'm just going to code," but in reality you have to talk to clients (even if they're your coworkers), your bosses, prospective hires, etc., and this often takes the form of written communication. If you write unintelligibly to a customer or your CEO about why a feature is taking a while to implement, you're going to have a bad time. If you issue a poorly-worded question to a prospective hire, you'll muddy the waters in an already difficult decision. And there's no substitute for dodging the heat with a well-worded CYA email. Learn to write precisely and concisely. Rhetoric classes, if your uni offers them, are a great investment.
Spoom 11y ago
Agreed. Without the professional communications class I took in college, I likely wouldn't have had the same success in my freelancing business.