Subj : Re: Academic grades and programming
To   : comp.programming
From : karen
Date : Fri Jul 29 2005 12:03 pm


"Eric" <mail@mail.com> wrote in message 
news:vjufe1lphnmrbf54f3f49089432q99nbv5@4ax.com...
>
> Afaik the best way to scout for good programmers is to use iq scores.
> A university degree just proves you are not stupid and have enough
> social skills and stamina to sit out the classes.
>
> Some of the best coders i've seen where drop outs. They were off the
> scale smart and able to break down complex problems & absorb new
> information really fast.
>
> That being said, some of them had serious problems relating to other
> humans, and management in particular. Which i guess makes them non
> perfect for an actual company situation where you have to work among
> average iq people and play the office game. But still their coding
> skills were superb.
>
> -E
>

And coding skills are only part of what is needed.  It's not just an "office 
game."  It's being able to talk to and understand users and their needs, so 
that you can tell if your code is an appropriate solution for their problem. 
It's being able to understand the business goals and processes, so that you 
aren't working in the wrong direction, based on the biased needs of a subset 
of users.  It's being able to communicate with your fellow programmers, both 
in speech and in writing, so that you are an efficient team.  There's so 
much more to programming that just slinging out code, just as knowledge and 
wisdom are a better indicator of value than mere IQ.

Grades are an inadequate indicator of how a person will deal with all of the 
above.  But sometimes, they're the one of the only indicators available, so 
they are still used.  Can you write?  Can you deal with other people?  Can 
you code?  Can you listen?  Can you get things done?  Those who can will 
often get better grades, too.

-karen

.