Comment What college did for one dropout (Score 1) 359
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.
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.
