The best programmers I have hired were not CS majors. One was a clinical psychologist and the other was a Cardiologist who was tired of practicing medicine. They knew a lot about programming but, more importantly, they knew about real world stuff and how programming could be applied and used by real people.
I recommend getting a degree in something like electrical engineering or a basic science but with a heavy dose of computer engineering as a minor or at least as part of your education. You already know the programming stuff.
The CS degree is good if you want to pursue CS research or if you plan to design compliers or next generation systems of something. If you want to design the next search engine or invent some new networking algorithm the CS degree is probably necessary. If you are programming for business or engineering, there are better options.
I think perhaps I should start charging advertisers for their use of my monitor space. Perhaps 1 penny per pixel. I could recover the cost of wearing out my phosphors.
I have avoided bulk manufacturers such as Dell and HP like the plague. They give you about as many choices as you got in the old Soviet Union. You can have any configuration you want as long as it's the one they want you to have. It's also a bit like buying a Japanese car: 5000 models, all alike.
The good thing about companies like Alienware (and other smaller makers) is that you get lots of choice and you can configure your box just about any way you want it. Also, you can change things after you buy it. I hope those days are not soon over.
Slashdot Mirror
The best programmers I have hired were not CS majors. One was a clinical psychologist and the other was a Cardiologist who was tired of practicing medicine. They knew a lot about programming but, more importantly, they knew about real world stuff and how programming could be applied and used by real people.
I recommend getting a degree in something like electrical engineering or a basic science but with a heavy dose of computer engineering as a minor or at least as part of your education. You already know the programming stuff.
The CS degree is good if you want to pursue CS research or if you plan to design compliers or next generation systems of something. If you want to design the next search engine or invent some new networking algorithm the CS degree is probably necessary. If you are programming for business or engineering, there are better options.
It must be Faith Based energy
I think perhaps I should start charging advertisers for their use of my monitor space. Perhaps 1 penny per pixel. I could recover the cost of wearing out my phosphors.
I have avoided bulk manufacturers such as Dell and HP like the plague. They give you about as many choices as you got in the old Soviet Union. You can have any configuration you want as long as it's the one they want you to have. It's also a bit like buying a Japanese car: 5000 models, all alike.
The good thing about companies like Alienware (and other smaller makers) is that you get lots of choice and you can configure your box just about any way you want it. Also, you can change things after you buy it. I hope those days are not soon over.
Even worse. If *we* do something wrong, we can always say God made us do it and then obtain his forgiveness after blaming him.