Why Computer Science?
One debate I see beat back and forth frequently on Reddit and Hacker News is the value of a Computer Science degree. Many people make the assumption that formal education isn’t necessary or even desirable in a world where we have an Internet full of educational resources related to programming. After all, you can just get a book on a programming language or pay for a “MOOC” or Bootcamp, right?
The thing is…that’s enough to learn basic programming, and maybe that’s enough to get you in the door for some jobs, but programming is not what CS is all about. It’s all well and good to look at programming from a vocational angle, and indeed there is no shortage of employment to be had at that level (especially in the Web development sphere), but that is limiting.
Personally, I began teaching myself programming when I was about nine or ten years old. I started with old books from the library, before free online resources were so widely available, and slowly expanded my knowledge as years went by. I learnt several languages, with some, like Java, filling in larger gaps due to their heavier focus on things like data structures. But I eventually realized I was missing out on a lot that is covered by a CS degree, and began my college career.
“Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.” — Unknown, misattributed to Edsger Dijkstra
