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Codecademy's ReSkillUSA: Gestation Period For New Developers Is 3 Months
theodp writes: TechCrunch reports that Codecademy has teamed up with online and offline coding schools to create ReskillUSA. "3 months," explains ReskillUSA's website, is "how long it takes a dedicated beginner to learn the skills to qualify for computing and web development jobs." TechCrunch's Anthony Ha explains,"By teaming up with other organizations, Codecademy is also hoping to convince employers that completing one of those programs is a meaningful qualification for a job, and that you don't necessarily need a bachelor's degree in computer science." In his Medium post, Codecademy CEO Zach Sims calls on "students learning for the jobs of the future or employers interested in hiring a diverse and skilled workforce – to join us. The future of our economy depends on it."
It's too bad I can't mod TFS funny.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
Where you have to list assumptions for your problem statement. For instance: 1. We're assuming that the 'beginner' already has a functional knowledge of more advanced math. 2. We're assuming that the 'beginner' already has a functional knowledge of computers - things like screen widths And so on. Yeah. I can grab my 7 year old, plop him down and teach him to write basic programs like 'hello world'. But he won't have the background in all the other subjects along with the critical thinking and problem solving skills that are required to actually be a good programmer. THAT's a skill set that takes way more than 3 months to teach.
Because H-1Bs are cheaper.
Technically, someone could be a "programmer" after only 3 months of work. More specifically, a "bad programmer".
From TFA:
That kind of says it all right there.
How about, instead, they put together a curriculum showing what an entry level programmer should know? Even if it takes more than 3 months to finish it all. And what the different sub-fields are in programming (kernel hacker, web site designer, database programmer, etc). Maybe you don't need so much math if you're going to be "coding" in HTML/CSS/scripting-language. But then you aren't going to be hitting the $80,000/year "average" that they claim.
What "quality" software? I'm not a programmer, but all the software from the big companies is riddled with bugs. What we need it to simplify programming, there are too many people out there who use the latest Ruby-on-Rails-with-XHTML-and-JQuery-NoSQL-Hadoop technology, but then can't explain why their page crashes when you type in bad data.
Programming is a trade, like plumbing or electrical work. Yes, experience will lead to better finished product, but programmers who think they need an IQ of 135 and an undergrad in mathematics are fooling themselves.
Support microSD: in a post 9/11 world, it is unwise to carry your data on media that you cannot comfortably swallow.
And here you were worried where the next generation of software security flaws and data vulnerabilities were gonna come from!
Yeah, I'm sure three months is plenty of time...
#DeleteChrome
I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but basically in the same breath, you said that you're not a programmer, yet you judge programming to be a trade like plumbing.
I can't reconcile those two, and I respectfully disagree.
By the way, I totally agree about code riddled with bugs. I work on safety-critical software, and I can assure you, not all software (firmware in my case) is of such low quality. But I'll also concede that the cost and time to develop such software is much longer than your typical slap-happy PHP script running on foo.com's webserver...
I am both a programmer and a plumber, and I can tell you that plumbing isn't as bug-free as you make it out to be. For example, if you stuff too many potato peels down your garbage disposal too quickly, your sink will back up, requiring you to take apart the drain plumbing to get all the peels out. I know, I've had to do this in multiple houses. That's the equivalent of a page crashing when you put in bad data. If you put food down the disposal at a rate it can handle, it will work fine, and if you put reasonably good data into a given Web page, it usually works.
There is an entire industry devoted to fixing "bugs" in plumbing, from drain cleaners to root-removal services. How many bathroom sinks have drain stoppers that don't quite hold the water in the sink? How many shower drains get clogged? How many old pipes leak due to corrosion?
Yes, programming is a trade, like plumbing and electrical work. And like the other trades, programmers have to often fix issues due to problems that either weren't anticipated during construction. In my view, programmers in general don't create code that is particularly more shoddy than craftsmen of any other trade. With each trade, there is a trade-off between quality and cost.
I can hire 5 coders for 20k for 6 months in india. That is how much cheaper it is.
Back when we had 'mentors' the rule of thumb was 3 months to learn the language. 1-2 months for the process (which was mixed into the first 3 months). Then another 1-2 years before you were considered pretty good at it. 10-15 years before you mentored or managed others.
I can teach pretty much any moron how to program. It really is not hard. Just so long as they can write simple instructions and conditions. The jump from 'able to' and 'good' is quite the leap though. I have known *many* who can program. Very few who are *very* good at it and many who are mediocre at it. Simple things like flow of variables (who set it and why) flies right over many peoples heads. Bring in what is complexity (big O ideas) and many fail at that as well. Many see short lines of code and think it is efficient, ignoring they 10k of code they are calling or that it does not fit the platform.
So yeah you can train someone up in 3 months. But they will just be getting started.
I'm not fearful for my job.
It will be my job to unpick the huge steaming turd that some manager decided to outsource to a "3 month programmer".
I'm not fearful for my job; I'm fearful for my sanity.
I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but basically in the same breath, you said that you're not a programmer, yet you judge programming to be a trade like plumbing.
I can't reconcile those two, and I respectfully disagree.
Are you a plumber? I'm neither a plumber nor a programmer but I appreciate both that both feature significant complexities which the layperson does not appreciate, and that an only moderately skilled beginner can yet still accomplish many common tasks.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"