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Are you accusing me of being an "expert beginner" based on preferring web resources over books?

scarface74 8y ago
The parent post quoted these books: The Pragmatic Programmer Clean Code The Clean Coder Domain-Driven Design Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests Continuous Delivery These aren't "programming books" for the most part. There is a huge difference between "programming" and "software engineering".
- jimmaswell 8y ago
  The parent post also said those books were boring fluff that didn't tell you anything you didn't learn on your own in the first month of a job. They recommend actual computer science and math instead, which is more the route I took. I'd say ProjectEuler is a good resource for practicing algorithmic optimization and math. I enjoyed the classes in college that went deeper into CS concepts like Language Processing and I did take extra math classes, but I'm not sure what resources I'd recommend on them. Probably some good textbooks available digitally. I'm not opposed to the concept of the format of a book, I'm just saying it's easily possible to be successful in "programming" and "software engineering" without having these books on your shelf, which the parent post said nobody reads anyway.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Yes plenty of people do read them. And very few people do algorithms and math on their jobs. You also don't learn most of what the books teach you on your job. Knowing how to do algorithms and math is rarely what's needed to deliver software.
  - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
    Yes. scarface74 is trying to tell you that the parent post is wrong. For the record, I'm on scarface74's side of this one. Those books are not soft skills. They're about the difference between being able to code up an algorithm and actual software engineering. We've got too many people employed as software engineers when all they know is computer science. They cause a lot of problems without even knowing it. When others complain, they respond that their algorithms are perfect - as if that were where the problem was.

The parent post quoted these books: The Pragmatic Programmer Clean Code The Clean Coder Domain-Driven Design Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests Continuous Delivery These aren't "programming books" for the most part. There is a huge difference between "programming" and "software engineering".

jimmaswell 8y ago
The parent post also said those books were boring fluff that didn't tell you anything you didn't learn on your own in the first month of a job. They recommend actual computer science and math instead, which is more the route I took. I'd say ProjectEuler is a good resource for practicing algorithmic optimization and math. I enjoyed the classes in college that went deeper into CS concepts like Language Processing and I did take extra math classes, but I'm not sure what resources I'd recommend on them. Probably some good textbooks available digitally. I'm not opposed to the concept of the format of a book, I'm just saying it's easily possible to be successful in "programming" and "software engineering" without having these books on your shelf, which the parent post said nobody reads anyway.
- scarface74 8y ago
  Yes plenty of people do read them. And very few people do algorithms and math on their jobs. You also don't learn most of what the books teach you on your job. Knowing how to do algorithms and math is rarely what's needed to deliver software.
- AnimalMuppet 8y ago
  Yes. scarface74 is trying to tell you that the parent post is wrong. For the record, I'm on scarface74's side of this one. Those books are not soft skills. They're about the difference between being able to code up an algorithm and actual software engineering. We've got too many people employed as software engineers when all they know is computer science. They cause a lot of problems without even knowing it. When others complain, they respond that their algorithms are perfect - as if that were where the problem was.