It bothers me quite a bit, that we are teaching Computer Science in the way it was taught in days gone by… before we actually *had* decent computer systems. We have them now, finally, and we should take advantage of that.

But what do I know, I’m only entering my fifth decade of using computers, but only the second decade where the computers are actually approaching a threshold of human proportions with respect to the human requirement for the tool. Finally. Maybe I should write a SIGCSE paper instead of some random blog post

Compelling reasons not to do CS
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1> Huge outsourcing risk – you simply can’t compete with the Indians/chinese for this due to labor cost. 40K in the U.S. puts you on the poverty line, but in India it makes you upper-class citizen!!

2> You will never have a stable job. CS jobs are a string of projects..when your project ends, your boss (or you) better have more work lined up for you. Usually a project manager only keeps the hardest workers (in hours/week), or the ones that he likes…if you’re not in that group, you can probably be laid off. Most people only last 2 years in a company before looking outside.

3> Every time you join a new company (or even if you stay in old company), you’ll be a little older, competing with 20 yr olds. It’s a little embarrassing for a 30 y/o to be mixed in with 20 y/o — so you may have to move into management.

4> Moving to management means that you’re not doing “computer science” any longer!! It’s a lot of politics, meetings, debates and presentations etc. You will certainly not be doing anything your degree trained you for, or promised you.

Look around in ANY company — you may see 1000 young programmers, 100 managers, 10 directors, one VP (e.g.), with each higherlevel older than the lower level…the programmers that don’t move up get pushed out!!! Most hard-core CS’ers will hate moving “up”, so “out” is the only other option.

5> Anybody can get a CS degree anytime they want (just take a 1 yr masters at local uni), so it’s no big deal…if ever the market becomes “hot”, a new flood of people will come and “cool” it off immediately (if india/china doesn’t do it beforehand).

6> Most CS jobs don’t even require a degree…anybody can learn DB, SQL, VBScript, C++, JAVA, PHP, web-servers etc. from a cheap $30 book and start working immediately!!!…especially in a “hot” market.

7> If you’re a “hard-core” programmer (with Ivy-league degree etc.), it helps a little bit, but it cannot alleviate the pressures above!! Eventually, companies are structured so that the mobs of “others” (Sales folks, marketing, legal, business management, secretaries) get a huge piece of the pie also, so that they don’t feel left out — most of your time will be spent appeasing other departments.

8> If you’re smart enough to get a CS degree from a good school, you’re smart enough to become a doctor (M.D.)…it just takes longer. The lowliest doctor gets paid more than any grass-roots engineer!! Doctors usually LOVE their jobs, while most CS’ers hate their jobs (why is that??). A doc-in-a-box family practitioner usually takes home $120k after taxes…a senior CS’er will make at most $110k BEFORE taxes IF they work in silicon valley. Outside of the valley, there’s less chance of ever making that much.

9> People that go into poly-sci, humanities, marketing majors deserve the jobs they get…they’re usually happy doing the stuff they do. They know they don’t give a damn about studying hard…they usually just care about partying, mingling and socializing…they don’t mind eeking out a living doing simpleton jobs. People that do CS really try hard to get a degree, and the degree ends up screwing them…that’s the big tragedy!!! Sure, it’s better than getting a poly-sci degree (in terms of dollars), but it’s nowhere near what the “hard-core” CS’ers could be getting in terms of work-hours, ability, etc.

9> The other arguments that a degree will somehow give you super-skills or special-knowledge in CS is pure crap…it’s true that it’ll teach you theory, but 95% of the jobs don’t require anything more than VBScript. The other 5% good research jobs are reserved for PhD’s at select companies like google/yahoo….if you get a PhD in CS, you better be good at EVERTYHING (math, CS, presentation skills, socializing, procuring funding, teaching, etc.), otherwise companies may find you too expensive to keep around

10> In my humble opinion, computer science/engineering majors have been, and will be in the near future, ROYALLY SCREWED.

Compelling reasons to get a CS degree
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1> If you want to work quick and fast from years 20-30, make easy money and get the *uck OUT (start a liquor store etc.)….make it a job, NOT a career

2> If you’re already financially independent, and want to learn CS for your own sake, and you don’t really need a job to make money.

3> If you love (and are good at) politic-ing, networking, giving FORMAL presentations, leading 30-people group discussions (doesn’t matter what subject) — you have a good shot at becoming a manager/VP. You will have an OK time in this career, with less chance of being outsourced.

Short course, casual learning, training courses and IT jobs don’t offer the same opportunities e.g. there is no way I could have afforded, found and had the time to read all the books, journals etc. I read at university (in addition to module books) or met the varied mix of smart people.

As for perl, nasty syntax language, I found Assembler (6502, 68000, X86), Java, C, C++, csh, Javascript, AREXX etc., far easier.

The whole point of going to school is to do kegstands and hit on underclassmen co-eds while you still have the chance.

what a bunch of little whiners we have here. oooh. I have a cs degree, now I’m hurt that you insulted it! please.

I love to hear the various people try and pimp their creds here – mr ‘I fix perl problems with java’! boy that’ll sure fix your problems! use java! geez.

anyways.

some of the DUMBEST people I’ve met have CS degrees. I work at a university – hell, some of the dumbest people I’ve met have PhDs in computer science.

get over yourselves. most of the time, the degree you get when you are a child in college has very little to do with what you do in the adult world.

(FWIW, I have a few degrees and now lecture CS at a university).

http://www.thewebcreator.net/2007/04/23/6-degrees-of-computer-science/

Computer Scientist -> studies some hardware, more software
Computer Engineer -> studies some software, more hardware
Software Engineer -> studies mostly software

Computer Eng. branched off of Comp. Sci., not the other way around; but no matter what, Comp. Eng. and Soft. Eng. are both subfield of Comp. Sci.