4 ms·

I would be fascinated to hear comparisons of the performance of graduates of different disciplines as developers. I know we everyone can think of a few example

I would be fascinated to hear comparisons of the performance of graduates of different disciplines as developers. I know we everyone can think of a few examples of good and bad for all; but it would be interesting to collate large numbers of peer reviews and see if any disciplines stand out. In the eight companies I have worked for, I think it's quite likely the maths graduates stand out. If not maths then probably electrical engineering. The chemistry and physics graduates are widely distributed. I know a lot of computer science graduates but I would hesitate to categorise any as great developers. A hundred or so is a terribly small sample so I would love to see results from a decent sample. (It happens I am about to start recruiting again, and no, I'm not a maths graduate.)

ssp 17y ago
(It happens I am about to start recruiting again, and no, I'm not a maths graduate.) Out of curiosity, are you an EE?
- DeadlyDave 17y ago
  I never did manage to get a job with my chemistry degree, and now I am decades out of date. With the small amount of programming I do these days I'm probably out of date with that now too. :-( I have only worked with two chemistry majors that I know of - and they were wildly different to each other. I am a fan of peer reviews as opposed to what managers think is going on - so I would personally not discard people's opinions about who the best developers in their group were. I can easily think of a list of developers at the places I've worked who would have been regarded as outstanding - and I believe every developer working at those places would have about the same list.
jey 17y ago
Why? The difference in skill between programmers is huge, but only a tiny amount of that variance could be predicted by the programmer's major. This is as misguided as discarding everyone who doesn't have a 4.0 GPA or didn't go to a top-10 school.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- nandemo 17y ago
  I suspect the average math undergrad is not as good a programmer as the average CS undergrad (but my sample is restricted to my college). However, if we count only the maths majors who end up working as programmers then I believe there will be some significant self-selection. So if such a study were done I wouldn't be surprised if math and physics majors were found to be better than CS majors. In any case I'd agree with you that in that I would never blindly use that in a hiring process.
spamizbad 17y ago
My experience has been that there really isn't a strong correlation between what degree you hold and your ability as a developer. But I've only worked with about 20, so my sample set is significantly smaller than yours. The best was an incomplete theory-heavy B.A. in CS from UofIowa, with a close runner-up being an EE from a university in India with a name I've since forgotten. I'm guessing it was their best engineering school because this guy was wicked smart and left to do grad work at CMU, and now works for (I think) Google in London. Worst: Degree-milled Ph.D in Astrophysics. Runner-up: CS degree from UIUC (circa 1993). BTW, don't be terribly surprised by CS majors not leading the pack in software development. Even with a coding-heavy curriculum, you're looking at a student who has to write maybe 100,000 LOC over a 4 year duration, in an environment where expectations are exceedingly low for SD skills. In academia, there really aren't any coding role-models to set them straight on proper techniques, design patterns, style, SCM, debugging, documentation, etc -- that is, unless, they read, filter, practice/experiment, and internalize some of the gems that float around on proggit/HN/etc.
- eru 17y ago
  Mathematicians probably do quite well, because thanks to the Curry-Howard Isomorphism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry–Howard_correspondence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry–Howard_correspondence) they are forced to write a lot of small programs that are intensely scrutinized for any bugs or gaps. And they are also forced to read lots of very good programs and be able to explain them. In my linear algebra, number theory and optimization classes the correspondence between the proofs and (functional) programs was especially easy to see.

ssp 17y ago

(It happens I am about to start recruiting again, and no, I'm not a maths graduate.) Out of curiosity, are you an EE?

DeadlyDave 17y ago
I never did manage to get a job with my chemistry degree, and now I am decades out of date. With the small amount of programming I do these days I'm probably out of date with that now too. :-( I have only worked with two chemistry majors that I know of - and they were wildly different to each other. I am a fan of peer reviews as opposed to what managers think is going on - so I would personally not discard people's opinions about who the best developers in their group were. I can easily think of a list of developers at the places I've worked who would have been regarded as outstanding - and I believe every developer working at those places would have about the same list.

jey 17y ago

Why? The difference in skill between programmers is huge, but only a tiny amount of that variance could be predicted by the programmer's major. This is as misguided as discarding everyone who doesn't have a 4.0 GPA or didn't go to a top-10 school.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
nandemo 17y ago
I suspect the average math undergrad is not as good a programmer as the average CS undergrad (but my sample is restricted to my college). However, if we count only the maths majors who end up working as programmers then I believe there will be some significant self-selection. So if such a study were done I wouldn't be surprised if math and physics majors were found to be better than CS majors. In any case I'd agree with you that in that I would never blindly use that in a hiring process.

spamizbad 17y ago

My experience has been that there really isn't a strong correlation between what degree you hold and your ability as a developer. But I've only worked with about 20, so my sample set is significantly smaller than yours. The best was an incomplete theory-heavy B.A. in CS from UofIowa, with a close runner-up being an EE from a university in India with a name I've since forgotten. I'm guessing it was their best engineering school because this guy was wicked smart and left to do grad work at CMU, and now works for (I think) Google in London. Worst: Degree-milled Ph.D in Astrophysics. Runner-up: CS degree from UIUC (circa 1993). BTW, don't be terribly surprised by CS majors not leading the pack in software development. Even with a coding-heavy curriculum, you're looking at a student who has to write maybe 100,000 LOC over a 4 year duration, in an environment where expectations are exceedingly low for SD skills. In academia, there really aren't any coding role-models to set them straight on proper techniques, design patterns, style, SCM, debugging, documentation, etc -- that is, unless, they read, filter, practice/experiment, and internalize some of the gems that float around on proggit/HN/etc.

eru 17y ago
Mathematicians probably do quite well, because thanks to the Curry-Howard Isomorphism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry–Howard_correspondence http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry–Howard_correspondence) they are forced to write a lot of small programs that are intensely scrutinized for any bugs or gaps. And they are also forced to read lots of very good programs and be able to explain them. In my linear algebra, number theory and optimization classes the correspondence between the proofs and (functional) programs was especially easy to see.