Thursday, January 06, 2005

Advice for Computer Science College Students

Good stuff, and good advice for the aspiring geeks amongst us. I teach web programming at a local college, and one of the areas with highest resistance amongst geeks is learning how to write. Who needs that crap, right? WRONG - it might be the most important thing on Joel's list (below). You need to be able to write to clearly document your code, particularly when working with a programming team (which is likely the case in a professional programming job). You need to be able to write to submit proposals and write contracts if you are a freelance programmer. Joel mentions a bunch of other reasons as well.

Check out his article for his reasons behind each item on the list. A worthy read.

Joel on Software - Advice for Computer Science College Students: "Seven Pieces of Free Advice for Computer Science College Students (worth what you paid for them):

1. Learn how to write before graduating.
2. Learn C before graduating.
3. Learn microeconomics before graduating.
4. Don't blow off non-CS classes just because they're boring.
5. Take programming-intensive courses.
6. Stop worrying about all the jobs going to India.
7. No matter what you do, get a good summer internship."

1 comment:

SirFWALGMan said...

8. Find a cute Poker Playing IT Nerd to err.. teach you the ropes.. heh.