Hi. Soon i will be deciding between studying "pure" computer science, that is 5 years of unix, programming and the likes. But there are many other courses out there that are good. Obviously I will choose what i think fits me best and go with that, but in my interest and to try and give me som guidance I started to look at the backgrounds of some of the people envolved in rails, and a little in ruby and realised that it was not as expected with a lot of variations from buisness studies to philosophy (geoffrey grosenbach?). So how does it really look in the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
On 13 Mar 2008, at 17:47, betaband wrote:> > Hi. Soon i will be deciding between studying "pure" computer science, > that is 5 years of unix, programming and the likes. But there are many > other courses out there that are good. Obviously I will choose what i > think fits me best and go with that, but in my interest and to try and > give me som guidance I started to look at the backgrounds of some of > the people envolved in rails, and a little in ruby and realised that > it was not as expected with a lot of variations from buisness studies > to philosophy (geoffrey grosenbach?). So how does it really look in > the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds?Well I''ve got a degree in maths (as does in fact every one in our tech team, past and present) :-) Fred --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
i was able to avoid any degrees so far and with a bit of luck this won''t change in future... so my ''background'' is a TI 99/4A -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
betaband wrote:> What are your backgrounds?How about Statistics and General Linguistics... Programming is just another form of language spoken to an, at times obstinate, "I''m just doing what you told me to" responder... -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
English major to Christian Ministry major to currently undecided. I think I might just become a part-time professional college student, if anything, for the free stuff and various discounts at restaurants. --Jeremy On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 1:47 PM, betaband <nospacesalloneword-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:> > Hi. Soon i will be deciding between studying "pure" computer science, > that is 5 years of unix, programming and the likes. But there are many > other courses out there that are good. Obviously I will choose what i > think fits me best and go with that, but in my interest and to try and > give me som guidance I started to look at the backgrounds of some of > the people envolved in rails, and a little in ruby and realised that > it was not as expected with a lot of variations from buisness studies > to philosophy (geoffrey grosenbach?). So how does it really look in > the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds? > > >-- http://jeremymcanally.com/ http://entp.com Read my books: Ruby in Practice (http://manning.com/mcanally/) My free Ruby e-book (http://humblelittlerubybook.com/) Or, my blogs: http://mrneighborly.com http://rubyinpractice.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 10:47:16AM -0700, betaband wrote:> Hi. Soon i will be deciding between studying "pure" computer science, > that is 5 years of unix, programming and the likes. But there are many > other courses out there that are good. Obviously I will choose what i > think fits me best and go with that, but in my interest and to try and > give me som guidance I started to look at the backgrounds of some of > the people envolved in rails, and a little in ruby and realised that > it was not as expected with a lot of variations from buisness studies > to philosophy (geoffrey grosenbach?). So how does it really look in > the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds?Looks like someone has to speak up for the much-maligned computer science degree. I''ve found my undergraduate and graduate computer science education invaluable. A lot of it has to do with being able to recognize problems as already solved. Sure, I may be pretty sure that there''s a good way to find out which points are "near" each other (for some definition of near) in a two-dimensional space, but if I''d never heard of a Delaunay triangulation I wouldn''t be able to Google for code to do it. A course on computer languages teaches you to think about languages at a deeper level than how to express what you''re trying to implement right at the moment. A course on hardware (often called computer organization) gives you insight into approaches to tuning performance. A course in algorithm analysis (or more than one) gives a broad survey of various algorithms for solving common problems, not to mention an understanding of their complexity and tractability. A course on approximation methods and/or probabilistic algorithms gives you tools to get a useful solution to otherwise intractable problems. Approximation methods leads into AI, particularly search algorithms, which leads into data mining. These are just a few examples. I also encourage CS undergrads to take a database course (not SQL training, but a course that talks about relational algebra and how an RDBMS is actually built), an operating systems course (if it doesn''t involve writing assembly and servicing interrupts, it''s fluff), a compiler course (learn about classes of languages, and write lex and yacc code), a graphics course (learning about quaternions is a bonus, but you should be writing your own raytracer), something on parallel and/or distributed processing (concurrency matters, though you can learn almost as much from an OS or database course), and there are lots of special courses (such as the course on how debuggers work that I had the good fortune to take) that may come your way. Mind you, I''m talking about good courses. I''m also talking about following up the courses with discussions (and possibly graduate-level seminars) with the professors. All the material for these sorts of courses is usually available in books and online materials, but that''s not the same as talking to live human beings and getting a sanity check on the understanding you think you''re gaining. On the topic of what''s expected in the Ruby or Rails communities (overlapping, but separate), that''s irrelevant to your long-term future. If you''d asked what you should study 10 years ago, before Ruby had significant visibility, you might have been asking some Java community. When I was heading to college, C++ was the big new thing. A solid basis in computer science (and a willingness and desire to keep learning after school) will keep you relevant through many Next Big Things. --Greg --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
betaband wrote:> So how does it really look in > the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds?Maths MA and Computation MSc. The latter involving semantics, analysis, design and involving different types of languages. Using Smalltalk in my dissertation was a lot of fun. :-) Can''t remember half of it now, but what I do comes in handy on a regular basis. The thing is, though, that you can never stop learning. When I did my MSc the web, Java, Perl and Ruby didn''t exist. Things change a lot all the time, so it''s not always so important what you learn at the beginning, but whether you continue to learn and discover new things as you go. -- Posted via http://www.ruby-forum.com/. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
I want to second everything Greg said. You can learn everything you need to know without taking classes, but you are more likely to be successful in a Another peice of advice would be to search monster.com (or whatever job site you please, try google, or IBM, or Sun) to see what is suggested for the jobs you want to have. Nothing is set in stone, but you will notice some trends about. On Mar 13, 2:42 pm, Gregory Seidman <gsslist+...-dNXPQ6k9rNiG6BJUYyje5axOck334EZe@public.gmane.org> wrote:> On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 10:47:16AM -0700, betaband wrote:... Lots of good stuff ...> > --Greg--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
Hi -- On Thu, 13 Mar 2008, betaband wrote:> > Hi. Soon i will be deciding between studying "pure" computer science, > that is 5 years of unix, programming and the likes. But there are many > other courses out there that are good. Obviously I will choose what i > think fits me best and go with that, but in my interest and to try and > give me som guidance I started to look at the backgrounds of some of > the people envolved in rails, and a little in ruby and realised that > it was not as expected with a lot of variations from buisness studies > to philosophy (geoffrey grosenbach?). So how does it really look in > the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds?My academic background is a BA with double major in German and History of Art, and a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies. I''m also a cellist. Computer-wise, I started programming in 1972 -- having what was at that time the extremely rare experience of being a kid (13) and having access to a computer (PDP-10) and learning a great deal, mostly by just being around it and being obsessed with it for about 1.5 years. Then didn''t do much with computers until about 1991, and then became obsessed with programming again. I got my first Unix account in 1990, so one thing led to another. I started using Linux in 1993 (0.99 patchlevel 14, I believe -- same as Dave Thomas, it turned out :-) and I would say that I have, at the very least, a "minor" in system administration, so to speak. For some reason, merely *saying* anything in online forums is sometimes mistaken for advocating some kind of position. I''m not taking a position on how people should prepare themselves for professional activity in the computer field, just describing my background. David -- Upcoming Rails training from David A. Black and Ruby Power and Light: ADVANCING WITH RAILS, April 14-17 2008, New York City CORE RAILS, June 24-27 2008, London (Skills Matter) See http://www.rubypal.com for details. Berlin dates coming soon! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
Thanks a lot to everyone for the great response! It appears to be even more diverse than first assumed... ! I believe I understand your points, Greg, about the difference between knowing and _knowing_ so i will take that into account. On Mar 13, 9:04 pm, "David A. Black" <dbl...-0o/XNnkTkwhBDgjK7y7TUQ@public.gmane.org> wrote:> Hi -- > > On Thu, 13 Mar 2008, betaband wrote: > > > Hi. Soon i will be deciding between studying "pure" computer science, > > that is 5 years of unix, programming and the likes. But there are many > > other courses out there that are good. Obviously I will choose what i > > think fits me best and go with that, but in my interest and to try and > > give me som guidance I started to look at the backgrounds of some of > > the people envolved in rails, and a little in ruby and realised that > > it was not as expected with a lot of variations from buisness studies > > to philosophy (geoffrey grosenbach?). So how does it really look in > > the community, or in this forum? What are your backgrounds? > > My academic background is a BA with double major in German and History > of Art, and a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies. I''m also a cellist. > Computer-wise, I started programming in 1972 -- having what was at > that time the extremely rare experience of being a kid (13) and having > access to a computer (PDP-10) and learning a great deal, mostly by > just being around it and being obsessed with it for about 1.5 years. > Then didn''t do much with computers until about 1991, and then became > obsessed with programming again. I got my first Unix account in 1990, > so one thing led to another. I started using Linux in 1993 (0.99 > patchlevel 14, I believe -- same as Dave Thomas, it turned out :-) and > I would say that I have, at the very least, a "minor" in system > administration, so to speak. > > For some reason, merely *saying* anything in online forums is > sometimes mistaken for advocating some kind of position. I''m not > taking a position on how people should prepare themselves for > professional activity in the computer field, just describing my > background. > > David > > -- > Upcoming Rails training from David A. Black and Ruby Power and Light: > ADVANCING WITH RAILS, April 14-17 2008, New York City > CORE RAILS, June 24-27 2008, London (Skills Matter) > Seehttp://www.rubypal.comfor details. Berlin dates coming soon!--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ruby on Rails: Talk" group. To post to this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rubyonrails-talk-unsubscribe-/JYPxA39Uh5TLH3MbocFFw@public.gmane.org For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rubyonrails-talk?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---