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While that's true, I feel like there's going to be plenty of awful programmers in the group that's just in it for the money (although that's not to say there wo

While that's true, I feel like there's going to be plenty of awful programmers in the group that's just in it for the money (although that's not to say there won't be passionate programmers who are also awful - they're just more likely to want to improve themselves). With much of CS and programming being so collaborative, those that just don't have the talent or the heart for it generally cause more hassle and grief for the rest of us. Of course, I'm also not assuming that I'm not an awful programmer myself, but I really do love CS and try to improve myself all the time.

taskstrike 14y ago
CS weeds out the bad programmers so they never graduate. If you can pass Stanford's CS program you are probably pretty smart.
- jianxioy 14y ago
  This is totally untrue.
  - raygunomical 14y ago
    Why's that? Do you have any information to back this up? I'd be interested in that.
    - jianxioy 14y ago
      Because you're making a fallacious assumption with Computer Science in relation to programming/building webapps, just like many others here. You're assuming just because one is good at CS, he/she must be a good programmer.
- apawloski 14y ago
  Not necessarily smart but more likely to be at least an adequate developer
suresk 14y ago
Getting a CS degree isn't easy - most of the people who lack the interest or intellect for it wash out before too long. I started going back for a CS degree about a year ago, and quickly found this out when I saw people retaking a 2000 level class and still failing to grasp the mechanics of function calls or basic data types. Sure, there are some people who finish through sheer bullheadedness and others who stop caring after they graduate, but I still think that if you manage to make it through a 4 year CS program (especially if it is at a place like Stanford), there is a pretty good chance you have potential to become a useful programmer. I'd argue that one reason we end up with CS graduates who don't end up becoming very useful is that our industry in general isn't that great at mentoring, and there are a lot of things you need to know to be a decent programmer that aren't always taught (or taught very well) in college. Good mentors in the first few years that someone is developing professionally can make a huge impact, and we should figure out a way for this to happen more often.

taskstrike 14y ago

CS weeds out the bad programmers so they never graduate. If you can pass Stanford's CS program you are probably pretty smart.

jianxioy 14y ago
This is totally untrue.
- raygunomical 14y ago
  Why's that? Do you have any information to back this up? I'd be interested in that.
  - jianxioy 14y ago
    Because you're making a fallacious assumption with Computer Science in relation to programming/building webapps, just like many others here. You're assuming just because one is good at CS, he/she must be a good programmer.
apawloski 14y ago
Not necessarily smart but more likely to be at least an adequate developer

suresk 14y ago

Getting a CS degree isn't easy - most of the people who lack the interest or intellect for it wash out before too long. I started going back for a CS degree about a year ago, and quickly found this out when I saw people retaking a 2000 level class and still failing to grasp the mechanics of function calls or basic data types. Sure, there are some people who finish through sheer bullheadedness and others who stop caring after they graduate, but I still think that if you manage to make it through a 4 year CS program (especially if it is at a place like Stanford), there is a pretty good chance you have potential to become a useful programmer. I'd argue that one reason we end up with CS graduates who don't end up becoming very useful is that our industry in general isn't that great at mentoring, and there are a lot of things you need to know to be a decent programmer that aren't always taught (or taught very well) in college. Good mentors in the first few years that someone is developing professionally can make a huge impact, and we should figure out a way for this to happen more often.