4 ms·

Thanks for the thorough advice. I really appreciate it. I think my main goal is just to get a credible degree for the web development job market. It will be a c

Thanks for the thorough advice. I really appreciate it. I think my main goal is just to get a credible degree for the web development job market. It will be a complete career switch for me. My thought process is that going back and getting another BA is too time consuming. I am motivated right now and I have a lot of free time, so I'm wondering if it is possible to teach myself most of the basics taught in undergrad and get into a grad program, which would be worth much more in the job market anyways.

adora 17y ago
One of the best programmers I know (became VP of Engineering at a major company at one point) was an English Lit major with no formal CS training. He started off consulting and worked his way up through a lot of hard work. Point is, I actually think it would be faster to do this (assuming you're willing put in the effort) than to aim for a master's program with the hope the end result is a better opportunity. After your first programming job, experience and recommendations matter much more than a degree.
samratjp 17y ago
Well, in that case, in the next year learn by doing what you want to do i.e. web development. You still would benefit going through the exercises. At the very least, go through Google's Python tutorial and get some decent coding skills from the MIT intro class (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-00Fall-2008/Readings/index.htm http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Compute...) After going through that exercise, you should be able to build some non-trivial apps. For web side, you can benefit from learning at least one web framework (yes, HN folks will flame throw you with framework do's and don't, but for learning sake, just pick one and stick with it). Ruby on Rails is a pretty popular framework and some Ycombinator startups have built extremely impressive sites (scribd, justin.tv, Loopt to name a few). So, assuming you put in work on the python tutorial or even if you didn't, I highly recommend this online ruby tutorial in 15 minutes. http://tryruby.org/ http://tryruby.org/ I'd recommend this Ruby on Rails online tutorial - http://www.railstutorial.org/book#top http://www.railstutorial.org/book#top. It is very new-comer friendly and dips into industry-relevant points that other tutorials don't necessary cover; by that, I mean this tutorial touches base on version control (a program to keep track of what you added or changed in your code) and unit testing (you need this when your code gets ridiculously huge). And, even though this may sound too early (it's not), look at job boards of places where you may want to work for (this would and should change as your learning progresses). In those places, look at skills required and the tools they use. You'd be surprised how often some jobs care about what you have built and how smart you are rather than your impressive educational credentials (though that can help).
djb_hackernews 17y ago
I'd say a masters in computer science isn't exactly what you want if you want to go into web development. There really is nothing stopping you from starting to build a portfolio now. Start simple, some well designed static html/css pages. Then get some jquery in. Then get on a shared host and start with php/python/ruby. I assume if you've made it to hackernews you are slightly technically competent. And if not I don't think a masters program will even admit you and if they did I don't think they'd be teaching you the things you need to learn. If anything I'd suggest a web design program.

adora 17y ago

One of the best programmers I know (became VP of Engineering at a major company at one point) was an English Lit major with no formal CS training. He started off consulting and worked his way up through a lot of hard work. Point is, I actually think it would be faster to do this (assuming you're willing put in the effort) than to aim for a master's program with the hope the end result is a better opportunity. After your first programming job, experience and recommendations matter much more than a degree.

samratjp 17y ago

Well, in that case, in the next year learn by doing what you want to do i.e. web development. You still would benefit going through the exercises. At the very least, go through Google's Python tutorial and get some decent coding skills from the MIT intro class (http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-00Fall-2008/Readings/index.htm http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Electrical-Engineering-and-Compute...) After going through that exercise, you should be able to build some non-trivial apps. For web side, you can benefit from learning at least one web framework (yes, HN folks will flame throw you with framework do's and don't, but for learning sake, just pick one and stick with it). Ruby on Rails is a pretty popular framework and some Ycombinator startups have built extremely impressive sites (scribd, justin.tv, Loopt to name a few). So, assuming you put in work on the python tutorial or even if you didn't, I highly recommend this online ruby tutorial in 15 minutes. http://tryruby.org/ http://tryruby.org/ I'd recommend this Ruby on Rails online tutorial - http://www.railstutorial.org/book#top http://www.railstutorial.org/book#top. It is very new-comer friendly and dips into industry-relevant points that other tutorials don't necessary cover; by that, I mean this tutorial touches base on version control (a program to keep track of what you added or changed in your code) and unit testing (you need this when your code gets ridiculously huge). And, even though this may sound too early (it's not), look at job boards of places where you may want to work for (this would and should change as your learning progresses). In those places, look at skills required and the tools they use. You'd be surprised how often some jobs care about what you have built and how smart you are rather than your impressive educational credentials (though that can help).

djb_hackernews 17y ago

I'd say a masters in computer science isn't exactly what you want if you want to go into web development. There really is nothing stopping you from starting to build a portfolio now. Start simple, some well designed static html/css pages. Then get some jquery in. Then get on a shared host and start with php/python/ruby. I assume if you've made it to hackernews you are slightly technically competent. And if not I don't think a masters program will even admit you and if they did I don't think they'd be teaching you the things you need to learn. If anything I'd suggest a web design program.