From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_20,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 111d6b,328622178ec8b832 X-Google-Attributes: gid111d6b,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,8775b19e3c68a5dc X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1094ba,a03ae7f4e53958e1 X-Google-Attributes: gid1094ba,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,a03ae7f4e53958e1 X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,a03ae7f4e53958e1 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-Thread: 10d15b,328622178ec8b832 X-Google-Attributes: gid10d15b,public X-Google-Thread: 114809,a03ae7f4e53958e1 X-Google-Attributes: gid114809,public From: Highlander Consulting Subject: Re: Which language pays most -- C++ vs. Java? Date: 1998/01/15 Message-ID: <34BD99D3.80C03D3C@ix.netcom.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 316085689 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <67et6o$dql@bgtnsc03.worldnet.att.net> <68dm0i$brv1@news.fiberlink.net> <01bd198f$4050d960$68c8b5cc@dhite.unicomp.net> <34B71B71.1EFDCAD8@ix.netcom.com> <699ndn$4fn$1@brie.direct.ca> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: Netcom X-NETCOM-Date: Wed Jan 14 11:09:12 PM CST 1998 Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.misc,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.fortran,comp.lang.cobol,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.lang.ada Date: 1998-01-14T23:09:12-06:00 List-Id: Kaz Kylheku wrote: > I have no clue why you were offered that job, but it probably had to do with > experience other than in analytical chemistry. I can't imagine anyone getting > a Ph. D. in such a discipline without exposure to computers. At my Alma > Mater, the chemistry department are among the biggest UNIX weenies on > campus with the most powerful machines. :) Admit it; you were a hacker > in your undergraduate days and beyond. :) I didn't say that I wasn't a hacker or that I didn't have any computer experience. My point was that earning a CS degree doesn't imply good programming skills. > But these skills don't make you a good programmer. Or are you saying that > the programmers who created the software crisis of the 60's weren't able > to analyze a problem and break it down into its component parts? Yes, I think that those skills are among those necessary to be a good programmer. If a programmer has no ability to analyze problems and create a logical solution, then he is not a good programmer. > Would you automatically recommend an randomly chosen chemistry Ph. D. for > a software development position? No, but that also wasn't my point. > Either Boeing just took an obtuse chance on you, or you are simply not > revealing the whole picture. There is more to your background than just the > three letters P, H and D---I simply don't believe your insinuation that anyone > with a chemistry Ph. D. can land a challenging software development job, > and immediately perform in that job as well. There was no insinuation that anyone with a chemistry PhD can land a software job. The insinuation was that learning a language and learning to program effectively are two different tasks. > Would a small company have taken a similar chance? A small company needs > someone who can produce quality software pretty much from day one; they can't > afford to hire an academic wizard and then send him or her on a six month > training course, _even if_ that person has the intellectual capacity to > master the equivalent of a four year CS curriculum in that six months. I think that any company that *wouldn't* hire somebody who could suck up a four-year degree in 6 months is the obtuse one! Robert Herrick