this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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I'm definitely not agreeing with the joke either, I find it confusing at best because someone who finished a boot camp and got a job as a software engineer is still a software engineer.
IMO education plays a smaller role in software development proficiency than aptitude does. But I'm biased, I'm self taught - no boot camp nor college.
Ahh, I didn't mean to imply you agreed, was just tacking on.
I completely agree. I'm glad I got my education, but in my day-to-day work I rarely do anything that couldn't be done by a motivated and self-taught coder (and even then, who knows).
That said, my job right now is pretty standard coding, I'm not like, designing CPU chips or anything like that, where the "science" part of computer science is a lot more relevant.
I figured, but wanted to clarify in case others saw it that way 😅.
I assume the thing a degree usually covers that a self taught lacks is accepted best practices, teamwork, and alot of principles that are better learned before diving into it. So a lot of bad habits to unlearn.
IMO, in today's information world a degree isn't necessary for learning, only as proof of learning (which is still very relevant). But a formal education also puts the tools you need to practice in front of you. Software development is an easy field to learn and prove your skills in. Chip design you'd definitely be better off getting a formal education, though you still see people making microcontrollers in games like Minecraft without formal education.
Imo the main thing my education provided was that it forced me to learn the "boring" stuff that I might not have bothered to learn otherwise - especially not if I was focused on learning practical skills to land a job. Things like approximation algorithms, Haskell, all sorts of math, etcetc. Things that I will likely never use directly, but that inform my decisions just by being aware of it.
It also helps a bit with imposter syndrome to have that piece of paper, at least for me.
Neither of these are what I would call strictly necessary, though, for sure.