My explanation of the difference between someone with a CompSci
background and one who does not goes as follows:
"The computer science background gives one a high plateau to build on.
This is in contrast to talented people who have been dragged into this
world, who may have very high peaks of knowledge in their chosen areas
but often find that there is a deep sea between their mountains."
This makes it harder for them to deal with problems that touch many
areas at once. For example, an application with a 3 tier architecture
might take them a bit longer to understand than a person with a computer
science degree would take. However, once they have done one, they are
going to be in good shape and likely much better than a person with a
degree that has never done one.
I have an undergraduate degree and a masters, both in Computer Science,
but I frequently defer to my lead developer who has a degree in Fine
Arts and had done practically no programming before I dragged him over
to the dark side. He has a lot more practical experience in Flash than I
have, even though he has done all of it working for me. To go back to
the original analogy, my task is to help him build bridges between where
we need to have the mountains and to look after all the other areas
where it is not worthwhile for him to build his level of expertise up to
water level.
A good computer science degree should make it easy to move between
languages, between technologies and between application areas. And it is
a good thing too - history shows that if you think that you will be able
to make a living 10 years from now using the language that you currently
use, you are in for a shock.
Ron
Dave Watts wrote:
Exactly, and I'm skeptical of anyone who requires a CompSci
degree for a Flash position because there isn't a single
college degree for Flash programming. ;)
Comp Sci isn't about Flash programming, or Java programming, or {insert
language flavor of the week} programming. It's not even about programming.
My personal observation, however, is that people who have a comp sci
background tend to make better programmers than those who don't. The best
Flash programmers I've met, personally, have comp sci backgrounds, for what
that's worth.
Personally, I don't have that background, unfortunately, and I have
certainly felt its absence at times; there are a bunch of things I've had to
learn the hard way as a result.
Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software
http://www.figleaf.com/
Fig Leaf Software provides the highest caliber vendor-authorized
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Chicago, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, or on-site at your location.
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