Ask the Mormon

[ArcticFox]

So I use MySQL databases on a daily basis at my job. Should I consider testing out of my Intro to DB class?

Honestly... I wouldn't. It's amazing how many nuggets of useful info are hiding in an intro class that even experts either have forgotten, or missed the first time around.

[fathom123]

Pertaining to my previous question, do you think I should get a degree, go for certification, or just get really good at a programming language then apply for a job?

[ArcticFox]

Well, over the last few weeks I've been assisting with conducting job interviews where I work, and I can tell you that we don't take resumes very seriously unless there's a 4 year Computer Science degree on them at least.

[Chozon1]

Troubling. What about IT?

[ArcticFox]

Troubling. What about IT?

You mean like an IT degree?

[Deepfreeze32]

So for my software engineering class, we're designing and building a file compression system. Part of this is, naturally, the Software Requirements Specification. Do you have any advice about this (Including the SRS) for newbie to "formal" Software Engineering?

[ArcticFox]

Heh out in the real world, such formality is rare.

My advice is to be as specific and complete, in terms of detail, as you possibly can. Make no assumptions about the audience knowing anything about your project before reading the document.

Where I work, the specifications are given thus:

"Hey, can you create a portlet that takes in a few details about the user and uploads a file to be stored in a remote database?"

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Ok, can it be done by Friday?"

"Probably not until the middle of next week, with testing."

"Ok, well the fields we need are, user first name, last name, grant number and document title."

"Ok cool. I'll get right on it. Want the grant number to be a dropdown or text field?"

"Let's go with text for now and maybe later make it a dropdown."

"Roger dodger."

[Deepfreeze32]

Yeah, I kinda figured as much. At my job, we rarely ever do anything as formal as that. At most, our boss wants a list of short bullet points about general functions the software performs.

Thanks for the advice! I gotta finish this by 9:30 tomorrow, so here goes crunch mode...


Any experience with the common lossless compression algorithms (Huffman coding, LZ77/78, LZW, RLE, etc)?

[ArcticFox]

pfffft I'm a web developer and emerging authentication security guy...

[Chozon1]

Troubling. What about IT?

You mean like an IT degree?

No, I meant like...I want to become an IT guy. The flavor that repairs the hardware and software and helps people in general. Trying to decide whether I should continue with my degree in programming or just get certified in as many aspects about hardware/software/networking as I can and then getting a job with the Geeksquad or sommat to gain experience.

Or run away to the French alps and start a monastery. School is agreeing with me like rotten eggs.

Ripping components off of MOBO's?

[ArcticFox]

Ok well that's different. I've been interviewing people for a developer position.

If you're looking to be like a SysAdmin or help desk guy, then you don't really need a 4 year degree, just some certifications. Mind you, a 4 year degree makes you a much more desirable candidate, because the most important thing you need to have in the IT world right now is flexibility. You have to be able to adapt to changing roles, technology, responsibility and environments, and certifications are awesome, but they're also very specific. A person with a 4 year degree already has a wider pool of basic knowledge and can more easily learn new skills. If you're relying on your certifications to make your resume look good, then you'll be in a continuous cycle of keeping those certifications up to date on the most recent technologies, and that can cost a lot of money if not done through your job.

[ArchAngel]

This being said, I'm not sure if CS is the right degree for you if you want to do IT of Sysadmin work. You might want a MIS degree instead. Programming is really for those who love doing it; if not, you're just going to destroy yourself trying.

[ArcticFox]

This being said, I'm not sure if CS is the right degree for you if you want to do IT of Sysadmin work. You might want a MIS degree instead. Programming is really for those who love doing it; if not, you're just going to destroy yourself trying.

^This

[Deepfreeze32]

Programming (n): an art form that fights back.

>_>

And I'd definitely suggest an IT degree if you can find a school that offers one. My school offers one, and it's pretty dang awesome. You get multiple classes in scripting (Which is Python), web development, databases, networking, management, statistics, professional writing, etc. I feel like if you start struggling with programming, you might consider something similar.

Anyway, since this is Arctic's thread and I'm threadjacking, here's a question for you:

What kind of algorithms experience do you have? I.E. did you take a class, teach yourself what you needed, or never bothered with it?

[ArcticFox]

Actually most of the practical stuff I know I learned on the job.