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I find articles like this interesting. While I have hired plenty of software engineers and data scientists without Computer Science degrees I do think sometimes
by throwaway2016a 8y ago
I find articles like this interesting. While I have hired plenty of software engineers and data scientists without Computer Science degrees I do think sometimes people without them are at a disadvantage.
Breadth First Search is a freshman year concept at many schools. Sophomore at the latest.
On the other hand it gives me some respect for people who have to learn this all themselves. Having 4 years to take off from work and just learn this stuff is a huge luxury and not necessary in a lot of cases. But at least for me I am very thankful for the structure of a formal degree. I don't think I could have self-taught all of this.
- ne9xt 8y agoI'm a mechatronics engineer working as an embedded software engineer. I've had to rapidly learn and teach myself a whole lot to be able to do my job effectively and correctly. Given that, I studied many of the standard CS algos when I was brushing up for a FAANG interview. I found this gem of a guide: https://bradfieldcs.com/algos/ https://bradfieldcs.com/algos/ and after working through the examples, I could understand the behavior and underlying mechanisms of these algorithms. which completely helps when reading about articles like this! Anyway, I think one would only be at a disadvantage if they are not seeking to continuously learn & satiate one's curiosity.
- amrrs 8y agoThis is very valid when the formal degree education is a proper one. Unlike here in my place, a small town in India - most of my computer science concepts where just read out aloud by someone - say a Prof and the formal degree was provided based on a theoretical test that was just out-of-Book answers. Even the stats I was taught during early days of my engineering, I have got no clue about when I self taught myself to do ML algorithms.