Look at this from a different perspective. Yes, you get a great foundation for programming, but where is the other side of the coin? I have little interest in knowing the ins and outs of writing code - I'm a system admin, proud of it, and plan on staying in that career path.
I have yet to come across a CS degree program at any college that covers the skills necessary to be sucessful in this type of job.
There is MUCH more to computers than programming, and all the good sysadmins/netadmins I know didn't come to this from a programming background.
Is it beneficial to know programming theories and methodologies? Yes, but you know what, that probably affects less than 5% of my daily tasks.
So, the question (necessarily) becomes is programming what you want to do for the better part of the rest of your life. Yes, there are a million different offshoots of programming (analysts, etc), but the bottom line is that they are still code junkies...
I'm about half way through my CS degree, and find little of the information covered in my required classes pertinent to my profession. I choose to pursue the degree for personal satisfaction alone, since it is obvious the computer related courses are of little benefit.
I do, however, agree with the broadening of knowledge due to the wide range of required courses. Pain in my @ss, but the end result is positive...
Slashdot Mirror
Look at this from a different perspective. Yes, you get a great foundation for programming, but where is the other side of the coin? I have little interest in knowing the ins and outs of writing code - I'm a system admin, proud of it, and plan on staying in that career path.
I have yet to come across a CS degree program at any college that covers the skills necessary to be sucessful in this type of job.
There is MUCH more to computers than programming, and all the good sysadmins/netadmins I know didn't come to this from a programming background.
Is it beneficial to know programming theories and methodologies? Yes, but you know what, that probably affects less than 5% of my daily tasks.
So, the question (necessarily) becomes is programming what you want to do for the better part of the rest of your life. Yes, there are a million different offshoots of programming (analysts, etc), but the bottom line is that they are still code junkies...
I'm about half way through my CS degree, and find little of the information covered in my required classes pertinent to my profession. I choose to pursue the degree for personal satisfaction alone, since it is obvious the computer related courses are of little benefit.
I do, however, agree with the broadening of knowledge due to the wide range of required courses. Pain in my @ss, but the end result is positive...