Recently, I was faced with the question of what higher education to get and (most importantly) whether to get it at all. At the moment, I see myself in the future as a software developer for mobile platforms (aka iOS, Android, etc.), working primarily for myself (as if a freelancer).

I would like to know how the knowledge that you received at the university helps in the development of your future profession and can I get it (these knowledge, skills), for example, at the same specialized courses?

Closed due to the fact that it is necessary to reformulate the question so that it was possible to give an objectively correct answer to the participants PashaPash ♦ , Ella Svetlaya , VenZell , Duck Learns to Hide , null 19 May '15 at 7:22 .

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    7 answers 7

    I used to know a couple of self-taught people who get (freelance) good money, but they don’t know at all, neither algorithmization, optimization, Boolean algebra, etc. I personally learned a lot of interesting things from teachers, you will not find such on the Internet (I don’t know about the courses).

    Some questions are hard to find. I had several teachers who had access to limited foreign literature, had their own designs and patents, and this is still a significant experience.

    Almost no one taught programming, they gave foundations, principles, sensibly explained why this was the case and not otherwise, etc.

    With regard to mobile technology, while the issue of memory and performance is acute. Therefore, a person not familiar with this area to write only "brakes", IMHO. But at the same time, I would like to note that I am not saying that our education is a panacea for all diseases. Much can and should be comprehended most, but, unfortunately, Google’s foundations are too limited in number.

    And you want to practice, no one forbids you to freelance yourself.

    And studying opens up areas that may be more interesting for you than phones.

    • Thanks for the answer. If it's not a secret, where did you study? - VioLet
    • Sevastopol National Technical University - Dex
    • Fundamental foundations are there for a lot of things. But just to find many of them in a fairly detailed and understandable form can be difficult. Well, when they are in the form of djvu or pictures on a pair of some left-abandoned sites or in a torrent among a thousand other books under some name, which you don’t understand what is what is being looked for. - Alexey Sonkin
    • All this garbage, there are a lot of people who cannot find decent work and self-realization both with HE and with work experience (I’m not even talking about IT at all), the main thing is that you really like it so that you don’t be lazy and that you have a goal. .. <br> Here I do not have a VO, I am 19 years old, and I already have 1 year work experience h \ n and 1.5 years + a web programmer, notice me in general neither at school nor in the university have they ever been taught and Nitsche, I'm spinning somehow ... <br> PS: I apologize for necroposing :) - Zowie

    Often what is given in our universities is necessary, but not enough. Always requires their own very active participation in their additional education. Usually, developers need the ability to solve problems, simply to be able to solve problems. This is no longer just a practice in the language N. You always quickly learn the necessary programming language or a specific technology.

      Univer teaches you to properly and correctly allocate your time, ninety percent of your time at the university, in most cases you will just sit on your pants, so take a beech and do something on pairs. Of course, the university does it, you can let us get on the teacher who will say frankly - guys, this is GOST and I need to read it to you, but you can ask me your questions on this topic, I got a teacher like that when I had the opportunity to talk on other topics and not about the old forgotten moments of our education. Excuse uni supposedly you should do everything yourself and not excuse at all, really the student should be trained himself, the question is what happens, the student needs help, and then the question is how in school - children teach the teacher to start the computer. so how to look. no clear answer. what better one god knows. because it can be good for you, bad for others. According to me, if the question of personal full-time study is not urgent, go to your element and study according to certified curricula. Attend trainings, there you will understand from and to, if you choose normal ones, for which all the same you have given your money and time, and at the university sometimes even thoughts visit, but what for ?? , although people are also the determining factor, maybe you will meet like-minded people and stir up your business, who knows)))))

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        This is the style! Marcel Proust nervously smokes to the side. - Modus

      Well, a technical degree is still worth getting =)

      The university gives, first of all, not knowledge, but a very important thing - the ability to learn RIGHT and independently, to find information in various sources. Correctly pose questions and find answers to them. Or at least a solution.

      This is a lot =)

      Courses also provide knowledge in a particular subject. And that's all. Yes, if you need to quickly learn something - it is quite good. They will tell you which buttons to press, which difficulties and incomprehensibilities are there and how to overcome them. There will be teachers who can always suggest something. But there usually comes a bunch of everything that you could learn at the university or on your own. And the courses are often quite spread over time - six months, a year ... At the same time, how to do it yourself during intensive classes can be mastered in a month. Or a couple of weeks. Or even faster - but only what exactly is needed (in the courses they try to give a little of everything and not the fact that at least half of this is needed). Depending on learnability and the available base.

      Perhaps in the direction of "programmer" (I do not know - I am studying in another direction) they will give decent knowledge of algorithms, qualitatively different languages ​​and approaches to creating the application architecture and writing code. At least systematically tell - what are they? =) And even knowing the presence of something, it can be found, learned and used.

      If you are interested in a high level of your knowledge and quality of work, you need a higher education. Not necessarily IT, you can any technical, if it does not work on it.

      And where you apply your knowledge and what you learn - depends only on you. =)

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        I finish the third course, and I want to say that the university did not give me anything. As for the ability to search for information - I learned to smoke mana myself. A mathematical basis, algorithms is useful - but this is only the first two years. The rest is ugly slag. - Vladimir Gordeev

      The thing is that besides programming directly, the university is taught in a big way. And, I think, knowledge of mathematics will not harm any programmer. And in general, the brains will flaunt over 5 years. And self-perception will change, organization. There would be a desire. Courses - not that! Suggest a good preparation (if you need a result and not a crust).

        Get a classic math education. Then, without any problems, master programming on anything for anything. This is my own experience (I am a diffuser in general), and the experience of my students. I would like to emphasize once again that the classic university education provides, first of all, the ability to learn and the skills of independent learning - which is priceless!

        Successes!

          I do not know how in the capitals and in the field of programming almost do not learn. (They give something, but damn little for a real job). And I suspect so everywhere.

          On the other hand, the diploma itself may be useful. Here I will not say anything, because I have not finished my studies yet.

          • Yes, I talked a little with students - almost no practice + the theory is that in any book on the language of N. - VioLet
          • In fact, everything is very sad. We had the subject "Programming Languages" and we were passing an aging Fortran. Whole semester. - Vladimir Gordeev
          • I study thermophysics and we had from programming languages ​​Fortran, PHP, Matlab, Scilab, FreeFem, and, incidentally, write what you want. For a programmer, of course, this is about nothing, but still =) Yes, and good, I learned to program myself before myself .-. And who did not know how to program - he did not learn. However, they were not interested. - Alexey Sonkin
          • one
            Fortran aging call too early, it still develops (if it is not fortran-IV or fortran-77). Python is also good for physicists. - alexlz