'blurred distinction between work and play'
on
Home Sweet Sweatshop
·
· Score: 1
I did that as soon as I started coding for a living. Before that, I was coding to relieve stress from my real job. Now, my wife likes to say that the only way she can tell if I'm working or playing is whether I have a beer or not (I s'pose the voices from CivCTP are probably a clue, too)
I _like_ the people I work with, which is a benefit like no other. I like the work I do, so it's no surprise if I occasionally work a weekend, or work late, or work at home.
Damn that 'techno loop' references in the article would be a nice change from the pop radio crap we've got going on here right now.
Every time this topic comes up, my initial reaction is "I didn't graduate, and look where I've gotten." I have a very good job with a very good company, and more importantly, I have the respect of my peers (including those with advanced degrees)
However, when I look more closely at my past, I realize that the brief time I was in college was very important. I learned my first structured language (Pascal), without which it would have been much harder to learn other languages. I was able to buy my first PC (thank god for financial aid checks, and ramen noodels), on which I taught myself C. I got it beat into my head that any procedure should have one entry point and one exit point (I even still follow that rule, sometimes). I learned theory of data structures (and now find myself explaining hashtables to graduates). This knowledge gave me a better background for the self-teaching that I've been doing every since.
I have to say that my time in school made a good programmer better, but I must also point out that I've seen many bad programmers who didn't benefit from the work they did toward their degree: the degree (or lack thereof) isn't the point, it's what you learned on the way. But then that's my approach toward life: what you've got don't matter nearly so much as what you've done.
Slashdot Mirror
I did that as soon as I started coding for a living. Before that, I was coding to relieve stress from my real job. Now, my wife likes to say that the only way she can tell if I'm working or playing is whether I have a beer or not (I s'pose the voices from CivCTP are probably a clue, too)
I _like_ the people I work with, which is a benefit like no other. I like the work I do, so it's no surprise if I occasionally work a weekend, or work late, or work at home.
Damn that 'techno loop' references in the article would be a nice change from the pop radio crap we've got going on here right now.
Every time this topic comes up, my initial reaction is "I didn't graduate, and look where I've gotten." I have a very good job with a very good company, and more importantly, I have the respect of my peers (including those with advanced degrees)
However, when I look more closely at my past, I realize that the brief time I was in college was very important. I learned my first structured language (Pascal), without which it would have been much harder to learn other languages. I was able to buy my first PC (thank god for financial aid checks, and ramen noodels), on which I taught myself C. I got it beat into my head that any procedure should have one entry point and one exit point (I even still follow that rule, sometimes). I learned theory of data structures (and now find myself explaining hashtables to graduates). This knowledge gave me a better background for the self-teaching that I've been doing every since.
I have to say that my time in school made a good programmer better, but I must also point out that I've seen many bad programmers who didn't benefit from the work they did toward their degree: the degree (or lack thereof) isn't the point, it's what you learned on the way. But then that's my approach toward life: what you've got don't matter nearly so much as what you've done.