4 ms·

Ask HN: Does getting a CS degree make you think less of programming?

1 points by amichail 4y ago

And maybe you won't find programming as enjoyable as your hobby/indie programming days?

PaulHoule 4y ago
It's true that CS academics (en route to PhD and beyond) get ahead by writing papers instead of writing code. Some CS academics are great coders, many of them are not. Great CS academic Donald Knuth, however, named his magnum opus (which covers algorithms and much of the CS curriculum) "The Art of Computer Programming". So some academics hold programming in esteem, whether or not you do is up to you.
- amichail 4y ago
  But could a CS degree nudge people into a direction that may not be best for them by making them lose interest in what they might be better at?
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    Are you considering the alternative of getting a different degree or the alternative of not going to college?
    - amichail 4y ago
      This question is more about computer scientists changing how students think about something that they love to do in their spare time. I don't think it's right especially given how enjoyable (but difficult!) a solo indie dev career can be.
      - PaulHoule 4y ago
        It depends on the teacher. I did not get along with Mr. Proulx, the CS teacher at my high school. He was originally trained to teach math and had a very one-track approach to computing. He used to argue with me about the value of computer graphics, computer networking, computer-mediated communication, storytelling, etc. and try to redirect me to other uses of the PDP-8 we had. In college John Shipman was the best CS teacher, he was not a professor, but he shuttled between Socorro, NM and silicon valley, sometimes teaching in a low cost town and other times working for a startup. This was when a 386 PC was a really nice computer. I took his class in C and his class in TeX, each of which was a 1 credit course that worked you harder than most 3 credit courses -- but you're here there to learn and you do it. I studied Physics and Math dual major, and the math major included most of the math computer scientists take such as Combinatorics and Logic both of which I thought were a lot of fun. I skipped the introductory course in PASCAL because I was experienced as a programmer and substituted a class in comparative programming languages which was also 100% fun. I have a friend who is a CS professor at a small Christian college who is focused entirely on the welfare of his students including their complete flowering as human beings. Both of us know professors at the uni I work at who are famous for their research. He told me that he thought they were not as dedicated as he is to undergraduate teaching, and that's kinda true because the big fish professor is going to be pretty busy hustling grants and writing undergraduate textbooks, administering people, etc.
jqpabc123 4y ago
Most people would likely find a "job" less enjoyable than a "hobby". It's the difference between doing as you're told versus doing as you want.
- amichail 4y ago
  It's more than that. Computer scientists have a way of elevating computer science at the cost of computer programming.
  - jqpabc123 4y ago
    This is kinda their job don't you think? A computer programmer is someone who can hack together a solution using pieces of code copied from the internet. A computer scientist is someone who can analyze the hack and explain why/how it is less than optimal and suggest ways it could be improved.

1 points by amichail 4y ago

And maybe you won't find programming as enjoyable as your hobby/indie programming days?

It's true that CS academics (en route to PhD and beyond) get ahead by writing papers instead of writing code. Some CS academics are great coders, many of them are not. Great CS academic Donald Knuth, however, named his magnum opus (which covers algorithms and much of the CS curriculum) "The Art of Computer Programming". So some academics hold programming in esteem, whether or not you do is up to you.

amichail 4y ago
But could a CS degree nudge people into a direction that may not be best for them by making them lose interest in what they might be better at?
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  Are you considering the alternative of getting a different degree or the alternative of not going to college?
  - amichail 4y ago
    This question is more about computer scientists changing how students think about something that they love to do in their spare time. I don't think it's right especially given how enjoyable (but difficult!) a solo indie dev career can be.
    - PaulHoule 4y ago
      It depends on the teacher. I did not get along with Mr. Proulx, the CS teacher at my high school. He was originally trained to teach math and had a very one-track approach to computing. He used to argue with me about the value of computer graphics, computer networking, computer-mediated communication, storytelling, etc. and try to redirect me to other uses of the PDP-8 we had. In college John Shipman was the best CS teacher, he was not a professor, but he shuttled between Socorro, NM and silicon valley, sometimes teaching in a low cost town and other times working for a startup. This was when a 386 PC was a really nice computer. I took his class in C and his class in TeX, each of which was a 1 credit course that worked you harder than most 3 credit courses -- but you're here there to learn and you do it. I studied Physics and Math dual major, and the math major included most of the math computer scientists take such as Combinatorics and Logic both of which I thought were a lot of fun. I skipped the introductory course in PASCAL because I was experienced as a programmer and substituted a class in comparative programming languages which was also 100% fun. I have a friend who is a CS professor at a small Christian college who is focused entirely on the welfare of his students including their complete flowering as human beings. Both of us know professors at the uni I work at who are famous for their research. He told me that he thought they were not as dedicated as he is to undergraduate teaching, and that's kinda true because the big fish professor is going to be pretty busy hustling grants and writing undergraduate textbooks, administering people, etc.

jqpabc123 4y ago

Most people would likely find a "job" less enjoyable than a "hobby". It's the difference between doing as you're told versus doing as you want.

amichail 4y ago
It's more than that. Computer scientists have a way of elevating computer science at the cost of computer programming.
- jqpabc123 4y ago
  This is kinda their job don't you think? A computer programmer is someone who can hack together a solution using pieces of code copied from the internet. A computer scientist is someone who can analyze the hack and explain why/how it is less than optimal and suggest ways it could be improved.