[Gllug] VACANCY: Junior Systems Support

[James Laver]

On 6 Sep 2009, at 23:21, Richard Jones wrote:

> A good university course can't be described as "crap" and you
> certainly won't be talking about hard disk space vs RAM.

Let me know when you find a good one then. Of all the universities I  
looked around, Durham looked the least hateful and they ticked a few  
of the boxes. I'd still spend every free minute of my day working on  
some pointless java project though.

> Nix mentioned complexity theory already, which is vital in many areas
> of programming.  I'll mention:
>
> - Parallel architectures: More important than ever now, and very
> little understood (although many spout incorrect opinions on the
> subject).
>
> - Functional programming: Also more important than ever although most
> don't realize it.
>
> - Theory of databases.
>
> - Theory of user interface design.
>
> - Mathematics behind encryption and a whole load of other stuff.
>

Thing is that I've done reading on all of these areas (with the  
exception that I haven't read the Date book, but I know I should...).  
At uni I'd have had a couple of slides on them, been uninspired to  
read the actual source materials and probably not have had a clue  
about any of them upon leaving. So not going to university has  
actually ticked all of the boxes better than the university course.

The internet is a marvellous resource, and provided you know what to  
look for, so is a library (regretfully, the best libraries are at  
universities, my local one where I grew up had none of the worthwhile  
books, hence the amount of money i've spent in foyles).

Then there's the real world experience. While I haven't been at  
university, I've had the opportunities to work on some projects that  
solve interesting problems (making code scale for a start). I'm having  
fun working on Foose, an effort that brings some of the functional  
niceties to perl that have long been enjoyed by languages such as lisp  
and haskell (which I'm a big fan of, and I probably wouldn't be if I'd  
had it forced down my neck in the wrong way at university). I don't  
think I'd be doing any of this in university, I think I'd be wasting  
my time writing the aforementioned half-dictionary in java with  
$framework_du_jour_that_goes_out_of_fashion_tomorrow.

It's not just a lack of fun, it's a lack of useful skills, in some  
cases a lack of the appropriate theory and certainly a gigantic lack  
of being able to form your own interest in a subject and learn it in  
the way that seems most appropriate for your own mindset.

Things may have been different back in the day, but universities are  
all just there to turn out people who can write average java and keep  
a poorly paid job in a company that doesn't take care of them. No  
wonder google get away with their mid-30s salaries by treating the  
employees well.[1]

--James

[1] When I last visited the google london offices, they were packed  
with people at about 10pm. Swings and roundabouts.
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