CS Majors that can't code.

Hi Everyone,
Partial vent - Partial confusion - Am I wrong? It seems like many people with computer science degrees can not, or will not write code or even basic scripts. I thought that was a core part of computer science degrees. I don't have a CS degree and I'm expected to do all the scripting.

Tell me if I am wrong.

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Deus Ex Machina

People coming out of college know very little on the subject matter of their jobs. That's just reality. They need to be trained. That's how every field works.

NetworkNewb

Depends if they haven't used it in a while. I know I took a bunch of JAVA programming classes in college but there is no way I could write anything in JAVA without looking everything up now.

I think it also depends on the person and how much they really care to learn and improve. Those that don't really care won't learn scripting. And there is A LOT out there that don't care to improve. Honestly, I'm fine with that. I find scripting fun and makes things easier. It also makes me look really good that no one else on my team cares to learn more of it. I'll write a simple one line script and they think I'm some kind of pro hacker. No lie

DatabaseHead

Node Man wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
Partial vent - Partial confusion - Am I wrong? It seems like many people with computer science degrees can not, or will not write code or even basic scripts. I thought that was a core part of computer science degrees. I don't have a CS degree and I'm expected to do all the scripting.

Tell me if I am wrong.

I've sort of seen this before. We had a girl on the help desk YEARS ago who had her CS BS and wouldn't code at first. Eventually they moved her to some VB.net projects and she was okay.

Might it be a confidence issue?

I find it mildly strange.

gespenstern

Yep.

I've interviewed some graduates looking for entry level positions who can't code. They say like I had 3 semesters of Java. I say, could you please write a hello world program in Java. Don't worry about making syntax mistakes, we are looking for general type of knowledge here. Oops!

Also, WGU's BS:IT Security program recently replaced their Java course with Excel automation. I guess because students struggled with Java. If they struggle with Java how can you expect them not to struggle with, let's say, C? They still have SQL course though that requires you to code ~100 lines of relatively simple SQL code. I guess, some other unis are worse than that.

packetphilter

Coding is like language speaking ability. If you don't practice it regularly, you'll forget everything fairly quick. A lot of people go into CS without a real passion for coding, so they only do the minimum required to get course credits. It's probably part their fault and part the fault of their advisor for not recognizing it wasn't the right degree program. Also, IT degrees weren't very common 20 years ago and they still haven't got the traction that CS degrees do. So a person interested in networks and hardware may end up in a CS program simply because that's all their university offered. In addition, not every student heads off to college knowing exactly where their passion lies, so a generalized tech interest may lead them into a CS degree when that's the last place they should be.

I loathe coding and programming. I find it tedious and boring, and thankfully I learned early on that a CS program was not for me. On the other hand, I enjoy computers, hardware, and electronics. The unfortunate part there is that's not really where the money is. I'm sure some people try going into programming and dev for the money, and they simply don't realize they're competing against people who do that stuff for fun, for hours every day, in their spare time.

MontagueVandervort

You're not wrong, but that's just the way it is now. Between college being so dumbed-down now and all the cheating, just be happy if you get someone who can read lulz. Sorry if I seem jaded but after all I've seen, you would be too.

blargoe

I don't understand how anyone with a relatively current CS degree should struggle with basic Powershell or Python scripting. But they do.

the_Grinch

I use to believe this was a problem until I learned what Computer Science is actually about. CS is about teaching the theory of programming. So while you will get courses in this or that language, the core of it is to teach the basis of programming and the theories behind it. A course will utilize a language so that student can learn the theory, but that doesn't mean it's a practical course on building applications. I look at it like a degree in linguistics. You don't necessary learn a specific language as much as you learn the structure of language.

I remember reading an article a number of years ago that a friend of mine posted on Facebook. A UPenn graduate was complaining that his four year degree in Computer Science was useless because they had taught him PHP, a language in his opinion, that was dead. Besides probably not being passionate about coding in general, this student missed the entire point of Computer Science. With CS you pick up the semantics of programming and in theory should be able to get up to speed on any language since they all have the same elements (if/else, for loops, variables).

Thus while in Python I would say:

a = 1

In C# I would say:

int a = 1;

Based on my reading most companies are coming to realize that they need to train their new grads on how to program. The point is they have a basis by which they can learn whatever language a company requires.

Slowhand

I can understand if a Master's or PhD student comes out of a CompSci program and is rusty with their hands-on programming skills, chances are they've delved so far into theory and applied mathematics that they haven't opened a compiler in months, maybe even years. Someone coming from with an undergrad degree and not able to either write code or pick up a new programming language pretty quickly probably either missed the whole point of their education or was one of those disinterested students that just picked computer science because it "makes money" and went through the motions for four years. See also: English majors who can't write to save their lives, business majors who fall for get-rich-quick schemes, math majors who gamble, etc.

yoba222

Computer programming requires an extremely high level of math and abstract thinking talent. Very few people have this aptitude.

Society nowadays is obsessed with the idea that everyone should learn to code. "Look at me, I just snorted 10 lines of code" says the politician to the media. "Everyone can do it, so can you!"

Nothing wrong with a little fundamental coding/brain training, but it isn't and shouldn't be for everyone. Now we have lower standards and way more dummy CS grads than in the past. Mass, rampant cheating coming out of India doesn't help either.

Every student in every school should have the opportunity to learn computer science. This is the motto of code.org. I don't agree. Maybe to dabble in it, sure. But the student should possess the right degree of aptitude to pursue it as a career.

Allowing a person with Down Syndrome to purse a career in brain surgery is just not a good idea for anybody, even if that person really wants to be a brain surgeon. Sorry but no.