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How true
After I got my first real job out of college, I realized how little I knew. While in college I used to hear occasionally derisive comments made about those who only had "book learning". I didn't realize until I got out there that there was some truth to those comments.

Secondly, I think universities are a bit polly-anne-ish about their approach to programming. I learned that you always comment your code, you always format it nicely (you always have your variable declarations nice and lined up, one per line). You are taught to expect that the project should go in a nice orderly fashion, with everything spec'd out in requirements and design documents, so that you can create clean code. The truth is it **never** works that way. Certainly these things are good goals to have on any project, but what you learn in the real world is you have to make compromises with these goals in order to get the software out on time. What you find is that the ultimate goal is for the software to work. Period. The code could be a complete tangled mess for all anyone that manages the project cares. All you can really hope for is that some of the people managing you are educated enough to understand these goals as well, and encourage you to use them whenever they can get away with it.

Also, you should hope to have some contact with the customers, and to learn how the business (occupation) really works--what people really expect. This will give you some keen knowledge of what's really expected of you.

It's this sort of practical, pragmatic knowledge that distinguishes you from a recent college grad.
Posted by: Mark Miller   Posted on: 05/03/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use
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AndAlso  rapson | 04/27/04
False sense of security  Chad_z | 04/27/04
Plus many MSCE's can't do the work.  maxo_z | 04/27/04
No need to even memorize the questions  voska | 04/27/04
No help as long as bean-counters exist  AbsolutelyNot | 04/27/04
many of the best developers I know  V Sanders | 04/28/04
That's because 'professionalism' can't be certified  escoles@... | 04/28/04
Offshoring jobs = Cheap-o wages bottom line  Enterprise Analyst | 04/28/04
As far as I'm concerned...  dpayne@... | 04/28/04
Redhat certified can't do the work either  Enterprise Analyst | 04/28/04
Not a microsoft bash- it was a MSCE bash.  maxo_z | 04/28/04
RHCE  SC-man | 04/29/04
Certification  Tinkerer62 | 05/06/04
I don't need no stinking badge!  DavidSommers | 04/28/04
re: I don't need no stinking badge  egurski | 04/28/04
MCSE's are not the same continued  Enterprise Analyst | 04/28/04
No- Computing Degrees have a different issue.  maxo_z | 04/28/04
You must have a complex  Enterprise Analyst | 04/28/04
Complex?  bluescreen_z | 04/29/04
Certifications are worthless  voska | 04/29/04
They're getting that way  AbsolutelyNot | 04/29/04
Certification  Tinkerer62 | 05/06/04
That is actually the correct approach  JeremyBarker | 05/02/04
How true  Mark Miller | 05/03/04
Huh, they're still doing that?  Mark Miller | 05/03/04
You Got to Be Joking  siliconrebel | 04/28/04
It's Good For One Thing  wbs00001 | 04/29/04
Education and Certifications  SC-man | 04/29/04
But people do not get new hearts every 3 years.  maxo_z | 05/03/04
I would also say the same about OO programming  WyldOne | 04/30/04
OO Programming  wbs00001 | 05/02/04
Software is now rushed out to meet market pressures  louiebergsagel@... | 04/30/04
I agree. Very real-world  Mark Miller | 05/03/04
Certification  Marlene_z | 05/04/04
Engineering vs. IT: Emphasis on certification misses the point badly  mkern | 05/06/04
One type of certification will work: licensing  mkern | 05/06/04
Licensing  Tinkerer62 | 05/07/04

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