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The problem with programming is that it’s easy enough to self-teach to reasonable competency without going through the formal channels. Contrast becoming a phys
by BeFlatXIII 4y ago
The problem with programming is that it’s easy enough to self-teach to reasonable competency without going through the formal channels. Contrast becoming a physician or engineer.
- kodah 4y agoThat's not only the history of our industry given that CS and CE arrived much later than programming jobs but it's also a feature. CS and CE cover some theory, but that theory is widely inapplicable to most jobs in the industry. People that don't come from formal backgrounds often work in cross-functional roles or roles that CS and CE deeply don't touch on. An example of the former is SREs. You can become a SWE by getting a CS degree, but a SRE job involves policy, userland software, systems, and so on skills. An example of the latter is Systems Engineering. I've found very few formal schools for Systems Engineering in the way it's practiced in industry. To make matters more complex most systems engineers also need to be familiar with writing application code.
- pessimizer 4y agoI don't think that's a problem, as long as exams are open. The problems would be a) blindspots among the self-taught, or b) largely useless, complex material added to the exam by the people who sell formal education in order to force people into formal education. edit: and only the second is a real problem, the first is a feature.