[ALUG] Is a college degree required for computer programming?

[Richard Manyanza]

Thank you for the interesting article. I agree with the general notion that
it's "harder than it looks." But I also detect a little sense of
pompousness in the article; yes programming is a trade, like carpentry is a
trade. Excellence in carpentry is just as demanding as excellence in
programming which is why it is rare to find, and very expensive when you do.

I think it is very possible to be a very successful programmer without
going to university, in fact I would argue that going to university can
only give you some competency rarely excellence. People who are very good
at programming, or carpentry, or cooking are self driven and therein is the
secret. The people I saw get the most out of university were the self
driven ones while most students are hazy on even why they study what they
study. On the same token I have met very good programmers who have not been
to university but were highly self driven.

I think if you do not go to university (whether on purpose or by accident)
the challenge is crafting a good study plan. I am happy to see this
becoming easier and easier with services like Khan Academy, Cousera etc.
Actually if this trend continues then going to university starts looking
less attractive while a well planed apprenticeship looks more attractive on
both substance and cost.

I think learning should be an absolute joy. I think it was Bob Proctor I
heard say, and I paraphrase, "Little children would rather learn than do
anything else yet we think they just want to play!" If you are absolutely
determined to put rockets into orbit then learning about how to do that
will be a joy to you, whether at university or in your little workshop.
Your ability to learn how to put rockets into orbit is absolutely not
hindered by not going to university especially in today's open access world.

On Fri, Oct 3, 2014 at 9:15 PM, Adili via Linux <linux at lists.habari.co.tz>
wrote:

> More info on the link
>
>
> http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/opinion/Is-a-college-degree-required-for-computer-programming?track=NL-1806&ad=896360&asrc=EM_NLN_34806575&uid=15327947&utm_medium=EM&utm_source=NLN&utm_campaign=20141003_Why+open+source+rules+legacy+modernization+tools_msargent
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Arusha Linux User Group: http://unix.or.tz
> Linux mailing list
> Linux at lists.habari.co.tz
> http://lists.habari.co.tz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linux
>
> The Arusha LUG mailing list is generously hosted by Habari Node Ltd:
> http://www.habari.co.tz/
>
> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
> attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in
> any way.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.habari.co.tz/pipermail/linux/attachments/20141004/ea44f714/attachment.html>