8 replies to this topic

[zCaptain]

Please tell me the advantages and disadvantages from your prospective of whatever path you chose to learn programming.




Also on A slightly different topic. I heard that in order to work for a gaming company you have to have a college degree in programming?

[Vaielab]

I would say it all depend on you...
Some people will learn everthing by them self, and other need someone to teach them.

If you are able to learn by your self, go for it, sometime one book that you can read in 1week can do the same as 6months of schools.

Of course, it depend on the school too... I had some teacher that had absolutly no idea what they were talking about!

If you are starting your careers it's always easier to have a diploma than having to show to your futur boss that you know how to code.

In my opinion, if you are serious about this, you should do both, get a diploma, and everything that the school didn't show you, learn it by yourself

[WingedPanther]

I got a Master's in math, and used that as the basis to teach myself programming. It worked well, but made getting a programming job hard. I had to get a job doing documentation (based on teaching experience), and from there demonstrated that I had programming talent. Trying to get a programming job with no portfolio and no college degree is HARD.

Getting a job with a gaming company will depend on the company, but realize that you sacrifice a LOT for the privilege of being a game programmer. Good working hours, salary, etc all tend to suck. You could try becoming an indy game developer, though.

[bbqroast]

You speak like you have experience winged? Are you a game designer!?!

It is REALLY nice to have someone you can ask for help, but that's what CODE::CALL is here for I guess.
Pros:
People to help you.
Time allocated for programming.
Finishing gives you a 'status' to use for your advantage.

Cons:
Lots of people will be in the same class.
You can't learn what you want to learn (well you can, but only in your own time).

There is plenty more on both sides...

[WingedPanther]

I haven't done game programming (other than Yahtzee and Mastermind), but I've read a lot about the industry over the years, and I get economic factors that play into it.

The reality is that game programming is about 1% or less of the software industry, but the "cool factor" means that there are tons of people competing to be in it. The result is the game companies get to pick the best of the best and reward employees poorly for the honor.

The vast, vast majority of programmers are supporting business and industry. It's not exciting work to write data management applications or modules, but that's where most of the work is. This is where the demand for talented programmers favors the programmers.

[haltox]

I'm doing a college degree in computer science and about everything i've seen in class, I knew it before. However, I'm curently working as a programmer. Also, if you want to bring your knowledge of programmation and computer science to another level, you have to get at least a bachelor's degree. Some high level, theorical and technical stuff is hard and painful to learn alone.

[RhetoricalRuvim]

What if you already know a lot of stuff, but you don't have any degree? If you go to a programming college/university, would they let you take some test, and give you a degree if you pass? Or do you totally have to go there for some time, in order to get a degree?

[Vaielab]

It depend on your school/contry...
In here (Québec, Canada), in some school, you can, only if you have worked full time for at least 3 years.
But the test will be the same as every student. In my school we learned java, and I worked in c++ and c#, so I didn't know enough about java.

I guess the only real way to know is to go in your nearest school and find out.

[smithyy]

zCaptain said:

Please tell me the advantages and disadvantages from your prospective of whatever path you chose to learn programming.




Also on A slightly different topic. I heard that in order to work for a gaming company you have to have a college degree in programming?

why would you NEED that? anyway it may be better than a degree imo because you may learn different things if you learn yourself. You could also always make an indie game team or even create phone apps.