[criddell]

> they program to accomplish other tasks in their domain of expertise

My kids have mentioned that they might be interested in a degree in computer science because and I've encouraged them to combine that with a second area of specialization. Programmers are everywhere, but a programmer that also knows chemistry or biology or economics or art history or just about anything stands out.

[ummonk]

>Programmers are everywhere, but a programmer that also knows chemistry or biology or economics or art history or just about anything stands out.

Really? I have a physics degree with some experience in rocket science, but my most valuable skillset (measured by how much pay I can fetch for it) is plain old software engineering. I don't think I'd be able to leverage my area of specialization to exceed or even match what I can get from FB/LI/G as a generic software engineer.

[criddell]

You don't think your broader education and experience makes you a better software developer (that encompasses programming, writing, and working with other people)?

[ummonk]

That's a good point. Not going through the standard CS track and straight into software engineering has probably given me broader experience and skills (both soft and hard) that I wouldn't have developed as well otherwise.

[sjg007]

Maybe. I studied CS and bioinformatics. You end up competing with both pure CS folks and also the bio folks that are bioinformaticians. Still I generally agree that some domain expertise is helpful.