Zoe ,'Serenity'
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Slightly relatedly, I'm taken aback by how many people I encounter these days in IT who don't have CS degrees, and who can't program.
t raises hand
I'm well aware that I suck. I haven't gone for a CS degree yet simply because I don't learn the way most CS departments teach, and I suspect attempting a degree would be a frustrating and ultimately pointless exercise.
I need lunch. Hmm, lunch...
I think I may be the only person on the IT staff who isn't a developer with a CS degree. I'm certainly the only one with an MS in CS.
Shrift -- you're in sysadmin? And Tom -- what's your job description?
Most of what I do is programming database stuff. I have no CS degree. I've had two programming courses: BASIC in high school, and Fortran in college.
Unix System Administrator
PC support. Every once in awhile we'll get a new program in that is specific to a department rather than hospital-wide (and thus not something supported by the Sys Admins, though they'll help out if the can) that won't work right and it'd be nice to have a better understanding of how software works and how to "fix" it, but for my normal day to day job it doesn't matter.
But there are times I wish I had a CS degree....
All I can say is that law schools have equal numbers of men and women because of the notoriously family-friendly working conditions of papa law.
But there are times I wish I had a CS degree....
Same here. Though it'd mostly be something to point at and go "See this, pay me more."
I mean, I can't imagine starting a Computer Science degree without any programming experience.
I can. You show up at college from a high school with no programming courses.
It's like the women who show up at engineering school with the required math and science background but no tinkering experience. I knew a husband/wife pair of engineers; she didn't do as well on class projects as he did because he was more used to handling a soldering iron.
I used to be really peeved at competing with the guys with lots of programming experience until I considered all the reading experience I had, all the reading I did for pleasure, and how young I'd started.
College isn't a standing start; lots of people show up Freshman year with a lap ahead on the track.