
Ask HN: Does a master's in CS develop you into a better programmer? - biznerd
I&#x27;m not a programmer, just a really curious guy. Does a master&#x27;s in CS make you a more effective programmer (in the workplace)? Or is it merely the most talented programmer choose to do a MS?
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andher
A masters is not geared towards making you a good programmer. There may
certainly be a significant amount of programming involved in completing
projects and homework, but they don't translate into being an effective
programmer at the workplace. If, like me, you spend all of your masters doing
research, you could potentially be programming a lot but the requirements are
not the same as the industry, and the skills don't directly map to being good
at programming in the workplace. Doing research is geared towards providing
you with a framework to ask the right questions and search in a structured
manner for possible solutions. It also isn't true that the most talented
programmers choose to do a Masters. I've seen programmers of all abilities in
these programs.

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calcsam
Some data says no: [http://blog.alinelerner.com/how-different-is-a-b-s-in-
comput...](http://blog.alinelerner.com/how-different-is-a-b-s-in-computer-
science-from-a-m-s-in-computer-science-when-it-comes-to-recruiting/)

Getting a masters in CS is a good way to get a visa to the US though. Most MS
CS programs are about ~20% US citizens.

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cpburns2009
Disclaimer: I am a programmer, not a computer scientist.

Computer science is a misnomer because it is a field within mathematics. It's
about the abstract, theory of computability rather than actually computing
with programs. I think this confusion arises from school curricula blending
the two together because both are about "computers". It's really orthogonal to
programming and has no bearing on one's effectiveness as a programmer.

~~~
grzm
Disclaimer: I don't have a comp sci degree.

I've found having an understanding of the underlying theories supporting the
tools (that includes languages and libraries) I use makes me use them better,
understand their strengths, weaknesses, and how to improve them. It also helps
me look at problems from various perspectives and see how other solutions may
fit, including those that don't already have a tutorial or library.

I suspect that if you're an effective programmer, you're doing more than
copying and pasting and growing in experience, and you're actually absorbing
and apply more computer science than you realize.

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Rekaiden
No. It's not even that second thing.

