16 replies to this topic

[leurz]

My brother wants to become a programmer -- he's most interested in VC++ and Java. (Maybe i'll convert him to Python yet) But he wants to be involved with graphics engines or interfaces. I don't know. I think he's still in kindof a dabbling phase. Anywho, to be a programmer and hired by somebody, is it mandatory to get a computer science degree? I was looking at some typical programs and they only seemed tangetially related to the actual code-writing aspects of programming. Is it more important to have relevant certifications? Which certifications look shiniest on a resume? They were talking about going to a, like, gaming college, and those look kinda sketchy to me.

[Junsu]

"gaming college"?

And I'm not quite understanding you.
So he's interested in programming or graphics?

Can you give more information?
How old is he? Has he gone to college?
Can he code right now?

[ShadowLink64]

There's a number of qualifications I guess. There's shorter ones, and then there's university degree programs. You can even be a freelance programmer without any formal education, if you really wanted to, or start your own company.

The shiniest thing would probably be a computing science degree though, because it shows that you not only are familiar with actually coding things, but you are also well-versed in the theory (algorithms, architecture, etc.), which is very important for some companies.

Maybe ask Hydrogen about this, since he holds a B.S. in CompSci.

[Melchoire]

From what I've seen you can land programming jobs with engineering degrees as well. Granted they'll be something like Network/Computer engineering.

[ShadowLink64]

From what I've seen you can land programming jobs with engineering degrees as well. Granted they'll be something like Network/Computer engineering.

Oh definitely. I just figured they wanted to be more direct about programming and not go into the hardware aspect as well.

[Narna]

I'm still interested in this "Gaming College".

[Melchoire]

Yeh I'm guessing the "gaming college" is one of those institutions that you hear about on TV now and then.

[jcrdude]

I would suggest that if he's in the dabbling phase, he play around with Javascript and Greasemonkey. It'll help him learn about the basics of coding while allowing him to bypass the need for finding an HTML wrapper and writing a visual interface, while giving him immediate and satisfying results.

If he's still interested, then I would suggest getting into a Comp Sci degree program if he's serious.

If he's already a college student, then looking into an Intro to Computer Programming class would be a good place to start to see if he has the programming chops to take it all the way.

[Random]

You can land programming jobs with a degree in MIS as well depending on the courses you take.

[leurz]

DigiPen was the gaming college thing. These all look like a money sink to me, but I don't know anything.

More detail: He got most of his cores and did all the introductory programming classes at a local community college.
He's not super self-motivated, so I don't really see him starting his own NeoCodex.

But...for the compsci program he was in, they required 2 semesters of calc and calc based physics. He kinda hit a brick wall there.
He does really well in all his programming courses, but is having a lot of trouble passing the higher math/science classes.
He switched majors to graphic design, did fine there, but decided he didn't really wanna do that.

It seems so far that comp sci is really the gold standard eh?
Maybe he should transfer to a different school where they let him pick a different science or at least take the non-majors track.

EDIT: fur gramar

Edited by leurz, 14 March 2011 - 01:14 PM.

[Ladida]

I'm in my final year of my Computer Science degree I've had to learn assembly language to C to Java to C Sharp to PHP and other languages in between. It takes dedication, and a love for logic and code. In getting jobs, I've found that people are impressed by the piece of paper declaring that you have a degree, and are willing to pay more. The people I've found to hire people without degrees tend not to know much about the area. They just want something sparkly and with lots of pictures -_- I wouldn't suggest that your brother should go into Comp Sci if he's just dabbling, or if he's wowed by graphics. I had to code a billiards game for graphics in C, and it wasn't pretty. But if he's really serious about it, and doesn't have a pure hatred for math, he could try it out

[Kway]

Which would be easier for you to believe that a person can program?

A degree from a college for computer science.
A piece of paper saying they know x, y, and z programming languages.
A stack of papers with programming code printed on it.

Also, a degree in computer science means that you know multiple programming languages (means it will be easier finding a spot for you) and if you have any doubts, give the person a test to make sure they know what they are doing but making sure they are proficient would mean a harder task which would take a lot of time. Would probably be a lot easier to request an official transcript and call up the college to verify.

[Dan]

I'm a senior software developer at an investment bank in central London - and I don't hold a degree of any sort.

A university degree does not necessarily mean you're passionate, talented or skilled enough to overcome even the most basic of logical programming tasks.

[Ladida]

I'm a senior software developer at an investment bank in central London - and I don't hold a degree of any sort.

A university degree does not necessarily mean you're passionate, talented or skilled enough to overcome even the most basic of logical programming tasks.

But it definitely helps in terms of getting a foot through the job door. For instance, there are companies who've already asked final year students to apply for jobs from my university.

[SpartanDuelr]

My brother wants to become a programmer -- he's most interested in VC++ and Java. (Maybe i'll convert him to Python yet) But he wants to be involved with graphics engines or interfaces. I don't know. I think he's still in kindof a dabbling phase. Anywho, to be a programmer and hired by somebody, is it mandatory to get a computer science degree? I was looking at some typical programs and they only seemed tangetially related to the actual code-writing aspects of programming. Is it more important to have relevant certifications? Which certifications look shiniest on a resume? They were talking about going to a, like, gaming college, and those look kinda sketchy to me.

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If your brother wanted to he could publish his own apps IPHONE, ANDROID, IPOD, etc.
you can make a lot of money if you can make good apps

[Melchoire]

Relevant anecdote.

Recently found out after talking to one of the programmers on the dev team where I work that he's a college dropout. He went into philosophy back in early 90's and decided he didn't like it.

He's completely self taught. If I remember correctly he did freelancing work. But afer the .com fiasco he decided he wanted a more stable job. The company I'm with got acquired by a corporation but he applied they were a small data management firm. He submitted his resume and the programmers decided it was interesting enough for an interview and he got the job.

Chances are he probably wouldn't have gotten hired by the new company. But he's one of the smartest programmers around, and a fantastic teacher. He could easily be the best computing science proffessor at any university.

Moral: if you're self taught don't aspire to get hired by large corporations.

[artificial]

Exactly. I'm actually reading a book at the moment relevant to this discussion: http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B004LZ55YQ

A good read if you're interested in pursuing this as a career path.