4 ms·

That isn't unique to Computer Science or Programming. I've worked with engineers, accountants, project managers, and many trades people that never touch their a

by theobon 11y ago

That isn't unique to Computer Science or Programming. I've worked with engineers, accountants, project managers, and many trades people that never touch their area of expertise outside of the classroom or the office. No venturing outside the curriculum or the self improvement on personal time. For most of them their job is just a job and that is enough for them. I think what is amazing about programming is that so many people are able to get jobs without degrees. There is a general consensus that self taught developers can be as good or better than formally taught ones. I haven't seen this in other fields until you get to senior leadership. Sure, areas like law and accounting require a formalized foundation that are hard to get outside of degrees but trades is an area with a lot of room for self-development yet there is little respect for those without certificates. Sure you can make the argument of insurance needs but that just raises the question of why contracted developers don't need to be bonded.

emidln 11y ago
Programming has a very low barrier to entry in the United States. You need a computer, not a particularly recent one, and time. I'm told that proficiency with English is also helpful (I speak English natively, so I can't comment on how helpful). Internet access can be had for free at libraries/schools to download tutorials and software. I know several people who learned to program on scavenged 386s and 486s in the late 90s and early 2000s. These could be had for free from some places (they were being thrown away) or cheaply from a garage sale. You could get a copy of Linux to run on a 386/486 from a local users group or by downloading it slowly and putting it onto floppies at the library (assuming your begged/borrowed/scavenged machine didn't have a cd-rom). A copy of Red Hat Linux, SuSE, Slackware, Debian, FreeBSD, or Mandrake had everything necessary to teach you Python, Perl, Bash, Makefile, Emacs Lisp, or Awk in 2000 (tutorials, compilers/interpreters, intermediate documentation). If you could get net access, a whole other world was opened up. This was my path, but I've met many others who progressed similarly. Scavenged hardware and addiction to the power instead of sports, dating, etc can pull you out of the trailer parks, high rises, or hoods. (Not that you couldn't do multiple things, but if you're poor in the states, you probably had to work from the time you were legally able and combined with school leaves little time left for multiple hobbies.) Other trades don't have such a low barrier, which practically means they are limited to those who can progress through a college path.

by theobon 11y ago

emidln 11y ago

Programming has a very low barrier to entry in the United States. You need a computer, not a particularly recent one, and time. I'm told that proficiency with English is also helpful (I speak English natively, so I can't comment on how helpful). Internet access can be had for free at libraries/schools to download tutorials and software. I know several people who learned to program on scavenged 386s and 486s in the late 90s and early 2000s. These could be had for free from some places (they were being thrown away) or cheaply from a garage sale. You could get a copy of Linux to run on a 386/486 from a local users group or by downloading it slowly and putting it onto floppies at the library (assuming your begged/borrowed/scavenged machine didn't have a cd-rom). A copy of Red Hat Linux, SuSE, Slackware, Debian, FreeBSD, or Mandrake had everything necessary to teach you Python, Perl, Bash, Makefile, Emacs Lisp, or Awk in 2000 (tutorials, compilers/interpreters, intermediate documentation). If you could get net access, a whole other world was opened up. This was my path, but I've met many others who progressed similarly. Scavenged hardware and addiction to the power instead of sports, dating, etc can pull you out of the trailer parks, high rises, or hoods. (Not that you couldn't do multiple things, but if you're poor in the states, you probably had to work from the time you were legally able and combined with school leaves little time left for multiple hobbies.) Other trades don't have such a low barrier, which practically means they are limited to those who can progress through a college path.