8 replies to this topic

[Josh1289op]

Okay, So I'm a troll. I've been on Codecall for some time now, I only recently registered, and quite recently started posting! Anyways, with that said.

I have a general question I would like answered...

Is it better to be self-taught programming or to learn from a college professor?

The reason for this question is I see a lot of criticism towards students in general. I also hear a lot of things from people daily. I am self-taught and college educated myself but this question brings a lot of curiosity to mind.

Any opinions or sarcasm is quite welcomed.

[WingedPanther]

Yes.

Seriously, I'm self taught, but have a Master's in Math as a basis for learning. I like to think I'm quite talented, but I've also read many of the books you would go through to get a CS degree. Not having ANY degree makes it harder unless you build up a portfolio of programs you've developed to prove your skill.

[RichardM]

I think a mixture of both is good.

A formal course gives you some structured learning, and pushes you to learn some aspects of a language you might not teach yourself otherwise. And it gives you deadlines; otherwise, if you are just learning on your own you tend to put things off, and off, and off . . . Having deadlines for assignments certainly lights a fire under your butt to get things done.

On the other hand, being self-taught means you can focus on aspects of a language that you really want to learn.
Based on my own experience, every time I have taken a course, the sequence was always the same: input/output, for loops, do loops, subroutines, etc.
And the instructors always based their assignments on writing a word processor. Seriously, how many times do students have to write a word processor program?

Anyhow, do as much learning as you can, from any source.
If you are just concerned about getting a job, and you have a quality portfolio confirming you can do what you claim, most employers aren't too picky about where you got your knowledge, as long as you have it.

If you hear criticism about students, perhaps that is because students all too often post in forums requesting members to essentially do their assignments for them. They do not state what they have done so far, they do not post their existing code asking for help on a specific point--they just say, "here is my assignment, please post code for me, put it in my hands because I do not want to do any work myself. Oh, and by the way, this assignment is due tomorrow morning so please be quick." Posts like those annoy me too.

[TheCompBoy]

A mix of both a professor and self teaching would give you the best ressult in my oppinion.

With home teaching you will learn the coding and from professor you can learn how to write better code for example. Myself im only 15 years old and i don't have programming in school untill i pick a programming class in the next school i will go to when im 16 and then i will have a programming teacher but i think by now i know more than he does, I was there on a visit and i saw some of his private projects and it wasn't too much to brag about actualy.

Teach yourself home, Get some nice books, Ask your teacher much for advice.

Good luck.

[RhetoricalRuvim]

I like being in a class better, with a teacher being there to teach the lessons and make things more interesting than reading tutorials. The teacher could sometimes treat the students to a joke or a comic, for example. The other thing is the expression, which helps with learning too. And the other thing, when I'm in a class, I'm not the only one doing the work, all those other students are doing the same assignment(/s), while when I'm trying to be self-taught, I have to face all that learning, working, and debugging/problem-solving alone; if I try to ask for help from someone around, they can't help because it's not English for them :).

[Alexander]

I assume every passionate self learner wishes to have an hour to sit down with a professional and talk. Apprenticeship is important to build skills that are not always just the subject.

[Sysop_fb]

You're going to eventually be self teaching yourself new languages anyway.

Getting your foot in the door with a business however without a degree will be difficult, if you apply for a job with a weak portfolio and no degree against someone who just graduated from college you'll 9 times out of 10 find yourself not getting that job unless you know someone at the company. If you're interested in the science aspect and going for a research slot then you will find yourself on a very difficult uphill climb against a college student who's been able to get involved in his/her colleges computer club with their competitions and research projects and internships.

[gregwarner]

I'm a mixture of University/self taught as well. Came from a CS degree, but I can say my best learning has been done on my own after university, usually under some sort of mentor. At my previous job, I worked under one of our lead programmers, and I learned a whole lot from him, more than I could have on my own. Plus, while studying under a mentor in the job field, you learn how things are practically done in business, something that isn't taught much at university. At university, you get the toolsets (algorithms, languages and grammars, knowledge of your languages' core API's), and when you show up for day 1 on the job, they expect you to bring all these toolsets with you. However, they do not expect you to be an expert coder right off the start. (unless you're applying for a programming position at Google!) As a junior programmer, they will expect you to work under a mentor, and gradually hone your skills so that one day you can call yourself a master coder!

I'm no master coder by any means, though I am technically the lead developer at my current position. It's a giant step from where I was as a junior previously, but had it not been for the excellent mentoring I got from more experienced coders, there'd be no way I could perform my duties at my current job.

So I guess all of that really just means: Yep, I agree with everybody else: A mixture of college and self-teaching is best. Plus mentors.

[fread]

I agree, a mixture of the both environments would produce the best results.