=> => Hal wrote: => => "...A thorough understanding of algorithmic principles, => database, some math, regression, ETHICS, etc. is what should => qualify someone to be a computer professional" => => TOTALLY WRONG Hal I'm afraid. The thing that qualifies => someone to be a computer professional in its true sense => (where software is concerned anyhow) is the ability to write => GOOD software, and the definition of good will change => depending upon the environment you are working in. Good in => an emergency situation is a fix that works and gets the => system live again however it is done. Good in a production => environment means reliable and stable. Good in a performance => dictated situation means fast and reliable. =>
Totally wrong, Dave? Cut me a little slack here, please. Maybe incomplete but I don't think "totally wrong." Anyhow, it does not matter to me whether I am right or wrong. What is important is that there is a spirited and collegial discussion and that I feel a certain amount of responsibility for it. => It's just like driving. All drivers make mistakes, the => difference between a good driver and a bad driver is that => the good driver will always know whenever he/she has made a => mistake and the majority of outsiders/onlookers will never => ever notice the mistake. The bad driver is just a danger to => others because he doesn't understand the ramification(s) of => making a mistake => - or even worse, what a "mistake" constitutes. => => Remember you don't have to be able to read music to be a => great musician. => I'll take natural talent as opposed to paper qualifications => any day of the week. Try and teach dancing to someone who => has no sense of rhythm and you'll see exactly what I mean. => Talent is a raw material. It needs to be guided, and refined to become great. The best scientists are the ones with a liberal arts education. Talent needs depth, maturity, a sense of history. Otherwise it is wasted. Mozart started when he was about 3 years old but the work he did then is nothing compared to what he did twenty years later. => Having all the paper qualifications only gives you a head => start in the "ability to understand basic methodology" but => there is absolutely NO substitute for experience and natural => ability in this business. => Natural ability in this business is something that only another professional can appreciate. If a system works reliably and predictably and in a timely manner without destroying the rest of the world, no consumer is going to look under the hood and comment on the ability or lack thereof of the people who created it. B+ HALinNY _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
