Subj : Re: Are programmers like this in the real world?
To   : comp.programming
From : Ed Prochak
Date : Mon Jul 25 2005 10:59 am



Walter wrote:
> "Mike Deeth" <mike_deeth@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1122071054.876109.126310@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >      If I ran a company, I wouldn't let any of these people within 10
> > feet of a computer.  I wouldn't trust them to write "hello world".  And
> > that includes the instructor.
>
> Many of the best programmers I know have never taken a course in
> programming. They have degrees in physics.

I've met some really good ones with degrees in biology. And I heard of
a company in the 80's that specifically recruited Philosophy majors.
(Logical thinking and all that.)

Me? I think I'm just a good programmer, but I was a Physics undergrad.

Reqarding the "professional programmer" in your class, I have certainly
seen such folks. Usually they are consultants, brought into the project
when there is a need for a lot of manpower, and the client company has
gotten to trust the contract firm a little too much.

Sadly some companies do not want to hire those good programmers that we
do have here in the USA. They look only at the dollars (salary) and go
for the lowball candidate. Then they complain their staff cannot
produce, so they outsource. It's not always as simple as that, but it's
close.

Finally, I'm actually not suprised the MS programmer is so bad. The
quality of their products certainly shows they have a number of such
bordeline developers.

There are coders and there are Software Engineers. You cannot always
tell teh difference from their job titles, but you can tell the
difference from their results.

Moaning with you,
  ed

.