[aklug] Re: AKLUG and others

On Thu, Mar 04, 2010 at 10:17:15PM -0900, adam bultman wrote:
>
>
> > On Thursday 04 March 2010, Christopher Howard elucidated thus:
> >
> >> My twelve cents, as a UAF student and aspiring programmer: Nearly
> >> everything I've every learned about programming was learned /outside/
> >> of class. Everything they have tried to teach me about programming
> >> per se, I either already knew, or could have learned in twenty
> >> minutes through online tutorials.
> >>
> >> The CS program would be a complete waste of time and money for me
> >> except, as Josh mentioned, there are some useful classes that teach
> >> you about how a computer works. For example, understanding what goes
> >> on in the registers or how the various aspects of memory work can
> >> give you a better perspective on how to program well. (And of course,
> >> math courses and such are beneficial.)
> >>
> >> Not to say there aren't neat things you can learn to do in high level
> >> courses. I'm just convinced, more than ever, that you don't learn
> >> /how to program/ at a university. You have to do that on your own,
> >> with lots of trial and error practice.
> If what you learned in class could have been picked up in 20 minutes,
> either you're very, very, very smart, or the CS program at UAF is terrible.
>
> I keep writing things to say, and then deleting them; I suppose my
> message to everybody out there is to resist the urge to pick up a 'learn
> [some language] in 21 days' and thumb through it, and then boast about
> your programming skills. (I'm not saying anybody is boasting).
>
> The gap between a bad programmer and a good programmer is huge. Work
> hard, don't overestimate your knowledge, and become a good one.
> --
> Adam

This is quite a good explanation to dovetail with Adam's post:

http://norvig.com/21-days.html
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Received on Fri Mar 5 05:45:51 2010