Equivalent of a Computer Science Degree
Okay so I make no attempt to hide that I have no Computer Science degree. I am actually Law LL.B graduate. But why should a company hire me as their next developer when they have potential opportunities to hire someone who studied it at university? Well if this is the only criteria they can compare on then they shouldn't. Hopefully my years of experience as a developer where I regularly push myself to learn new technology should really be what stands me in good stead, but often that is hard to prove.
Also how do I know I am not lacking something without a Computer Science degree? Let's imagine I didn't know data encryption. Chances are: I might also not know that data encryption existed and I would not know that I didn't know it. I'll wait while you re-read that... any more "know"s and it would be a tongue twister.
Well how can I really justify my own existence in a Computer Science role without really earning. I am flattered to have the role, but frankly to be earning above average in the UK I need to be above average. Not having a the information of the degree that is relevant to my employment doesn't really put me above average.
Having spoken to people who study for our best universities for computer science I have managed to pull together a large syllabus which represents a full Computer Science degree. Unfortunately it is boring as hell. Too basic ... but I hope a few courses down the line it will be a little bit better. For the most part I am looking at major courses and trying to find online courses particularly those on MIT and Coursera that match the sort of information I would have if I had done a CS degree.
As much as I find the courses boring I do come across some interesting information. Like for example, I use the term abstraction a lot to talk about removing the user from the implementation detail that they don't need to know. However I wasn't aware that the term to be stretched as far as text being an abstraction of the binary storage that is occurring in the RAM of the computer.
I had also heard that the term debugging had originated in the effect of a bug in a machine but I was not aware of Grace Hopper or that she had found a moth impeding a relay from functioning. So there was more information to be had there.
Graeme