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I am a self taught programmer but my mechanical engineering degree definitely helps me understanding a lot of math and just with the general approach to problem
by maxxxxx 7y ago
I am a self taught programmer but my mechanical engineering degree definitely helps me understanding a lot of math and just with the general approach to problem solving. The stuff I learned and had to understand in thermodynamics helps me with my programming. I wouldn't want to miss that.
However, I agree that employers should do much more on-the-job training. In my company there is almost no formal training for newcomers and it shows. A lot of guys get stuck at beginner level and never advance from there.
One thing I like to see in people now is that they have a wider look at the industry besides their direct work. I have a seen a ton of .NET devs who don't know what Haskell, Kotlin or Node is. I like people who read stuff like tech blogs to keep up to date.
- toomuchtodo 7y agoIf you’re a self taught programmer, would you not have self taught yourself the necessary math? You’re auto didactic (You needed to learn how to program, and you found the necessary resources to teach you what you needed to know), and it sounds like you have the ability to identify your education gaps and fill them when necessary; a valuable skill in itself. I agree less capable people will need more hand holding, and that processes must be improved for “sorting hat” the student pipeline.
- maxxxxx 7y agoI don't have the grit or ability to learn differential equations or linear algebra by myself. Learning programming is easy compared to learning math or thermodynamics for example. For example, I like to read about stuff like quantum mechanics but I never bothered learning the math. In school I would been forced to learn it which would probably be useful in some contexts.