Ask HN: Hackers without CS degrees, why so? - max_
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coreyp_1
Hacking and programming are different than CS.

The illustration that I use is this: I also have a music degree, but a music
degree involves much more than being able to read (and write) sheet music. Of
course a music degree involves this skill, but written music is just the tool
used to communicate ideas. Likewise, in CS, programming is just the tool used
to communicate ideas. A CS degree is not about learning to be a programmer,
it's about learning the basics of "Computer Science", which is itself a huge
field. A CS degree uses programming to express the ideas.

You do not need a CS degree to be a programmer, in the same way that you do
not need a music degree in order to play the piano. (Technically, you do not
need "a degree" in any field simply to learn the concepts of that field!
That's what books are for!) You do, however, need a CS degree if you want
external validation that you have learned the common competencies of the
scientific field which is shared by everyone else in the world who has also
earned a CS degree.

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ankurdhama
CS knowledge can be gained without CS degree. You don't need a degree to have
knowledge.

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suff
I do not have a degree in CS. I am a dropout, and I bill well over $200USD/hr
and I have a line of Fortune 500s waiting for me to be available again. Try
arguing that John Carmack missed out because he didn't have a CS degree. The
argument is laughable. Degrees are useful within a bureaucracy, but mostly
worthless in a meritocracy.

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Cypher
Artist without art degree?

