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by bediger4000 4050 days ago
involved absolutely no creativity or exploration

That's why you hate programming classes. It's that simple.

Most classes, but programming in particular, tend to be taught by people who aren't really into the subject. They're teachers, not programmers, or mathematicians, or historians. They have no enthusiasm, so they go by the curriculum, which will be dry, and without amusing anecdotes, or sidebars or glimpses of the future.

If the teachers were programmers, they'd be doing programming, not teaching at a community college. I'm sure that exceptions exist, but I don't think you've encountered one.

As far as doing things you're interested in, just do them. Software can be free - use Linux and other free/libre/open source software. Just get a book or find a website and do it. Follow up on questions you've got. Don't let anything go unanswered or unexplained. Google for answers, ask on stackexchange sites or whatever. Teach yourself, don't rely on uninterested, uninteresting educators to teach you. They can't. Only you can teach yourself.

1 comments

I teach myself (exceptions being getting help from friends) everything now, I just don't think I can get a job off of self taught knowledge. I honestly completely hate the thought of this logic but I can't just apply for a job at Apple and on my resume say "taught myself rails" can I? Don't most places want to hire poeple who have delved into the programming courses at a university?
You need more than Rails to work at Apple, but for most coding jobs, a few projects on Github is as good as a degree.
I was just using that as an example, but that's interesting. I didn't think about using projects as a resume.