3 ms·

"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect. People who can code in biology, medicine, government, sociology

by api 15y ago

"People who can code in the world of technology companies are a dime a dozen and get no respect. People who can code in biology, medicine, government, sociology, physics, history, and mathematics are respected and can do amazing things to advance those disciplines." That is the best thing in his advice column. It's hard to pull off though. I started programming at 5 and am at a skill level comparable to this poster, but I studied biology in college with an eye to doing exactly this sort of thing. Then I discovered that bio is a Ph.D's only club and that you cannot get any kind of job in the industry if you don't at least have a Masters'. I didn't want to do this for various reasons (money, not liking school), so I found myself back in IT/programming where the pay was 3X higher than what I could get in the bio world with a BS only.

AznHisoka 15y ago
With a degree in biology, even with no PhD, it's still vastly useful when paired with programming skills. You have a good high-level overview of the problems in the industry, and that's an important first step. But it seems like in today's competitive market (especially when it comes to doing a startup), you need 2 degrees. Computer Science is not enough. It's just a set of tools but if you don't have a domain where you can apply those tools, it's useless. It's like knowing how to write. Great! if you don't got anything interesting to say, or expertise in a specific area, it's almost useless. Of course I guess you can write about writing, which is analogous to writing developer tools.
- ExpiredLink 15y ago
  In the corporate world domain knowledge is more important for developers than technical knowledge. The complexity of real-wold domains (e.g. insurances, banking, ...) is amazing. For an experienced developer programming is the easy part of his job.

by api 15y ago

AznHisoka 15y ago

With a degree in biology, even with no PhD, it's still vastly useful when paired with programming skills. You have a good high-level overview of the problems in the industry, and that's an important first step. But it seems like in today's competitive market (especially when it comes to doing a startup), you need 2 degrees. Computer Science is not enough. It's just a set of tools but if you don't have a domain where you can apply those tools, it's useless. It's like knowing how to write. Great! if you don't got anything interesting to say, or expertise in a specific area, it's almost useless. Of course I guess you can write about writing, which is analogous to writing developer tools.

ExpiredLink 15y ago
In the corporate world domain knowledge is more important for developers than technical knowledge. The complexity of real-wold domains (e.g. insurances, banking, ...) is amazing. For an experienced developer programming is the easy part of his job.