rays0688 on Yahoo! Answers asked:
Is a second Bachelor’s degree really necessary for learning how to program?
I received my Bachelor’s in Economics without any problems. I did 5 years at my college but that is because I took fun classes, as I like to call them(photography,chemistry,philosophy). I decided to go back to college for a Bachelor’s (BS) in computer science. I am taking introductory courses in computer science, and I see that too much time is required for this subject. Economics required a lot of research and calculus, but it was fun. The stuff I am doing now, in computer science, PYTHON, is not easy, but I am doing well with the homework assignments. The only problem is I am seeing too many opportunities pass by me because I decided to get a 2nd Bachelor’s degree.
The main question of mine is, “Can I learn how to program on my own?” I believe that I can learn it faster than I can at college without skipping chapters. The college syllabus skips chapters. College is making me hate computers, but when I was learning how to program on my own, I loved it. It was difficult, but a difficult hobby is intriguing…to me.
Thank You if you’ve read my optional (detail) completely, and Thank You if you provided an answer or advice.
My personal view is that I would rather hire someone with a great portfolio and no degree than a degree and no experience/portfolio.
Edit: This is backed up with the anecdotal evidence of my own experience. Some of the best developers I know never got a degree in CS/CE.
A degree is “easier” than going without one because it’s a piece of paper that says to employers, “hey, this guy knows what he’s talking about.” But there are other ways to communicate that, primarily through a portfolio of projects you’ve written, open source projects you’ve contributed to, people you’ve done work for (whether paid or not).
Additionally, a BS will likely require you to spend very little of your time actually writing code or learning architecture or best practices. Instead most of your time will be spent studying other subjects entirely simply because they are required by your college.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with a degree. It’s the path most developers take to enter the industry. If you don’t get one you will have to work harder to break in because you don’t have that piece of paper.
To make a long story short, you can definitely do it on your own. But you will have to motivate yourself, actually do work for yourself and others, and build a solid portfolio to show to employers.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
