[adamredwoods]

I don't know if anyone (anymore) thinks that computer science is the same as software development. Knowing the latest library APIs, versus doing research to find a faster hash sort, are two different areas, IMO. I also wonder about the different industries and how they compare (SaaS vs CGI vs HFT).

I think if you want to forge new roads in programming, a little theoretical studying doesn't hurt, so why not explore a university degree.

I also do not enjoy the endless debates around self-taught versus schooling. I've seen real-life anecdotes from both viewpoints and find that it's too subjective for anyone to declare anything from either side. I personally don't recommend people jump out and grab a CS degree, but there are some good programs out there.

[xhkkffbf]

So why not explore a university degree? Let me give you 300,000 reasons-- in other words, the price (in dollars) at a fancy university for said degree.

I'm not debating whether anyone should study this. I'm just saying that people who want to get jobs shouldn't need to study it. If you want to do the theoretical stuff, have at it. I'm just saying that it's failed my team as often as it has helped. If the theoretical model doesn't match the problem exactly, you can get the WRONG answer as that NP-complete obsessed dude did when he didn't look for a heuristic.

[odyssey7]

> the dimensions of the problem were such that a quick heuristic did perfectly fine.

This is also a theoretical model that they teach in CS programs.

[xhkkffbf]

Some teach this but many don't. They spend their time climbing the hierarchy and saying the word "exponential" again and again. The classes are obsessed with seeing every problem in Gary and Johnson as intractable.

My point is that many of these theoretical models cause as much trouble as they solve.

[commandlinefan]

Do you think that this is only true of CS and programming, or of any degree and any job? And if not, what makes CS and programming special?