thanks

[jesse]

Hi, Simon:

Thanks for your message. Many feel that a CS degree is trivial compared with
working experience. Some of my co-workers think a MS in CS is nearly irrelevant
for my future as a programmer/analyst since no university will teach students
the latest technology which I pick up at work place, skills such as Oracle,
SQL Server, COM, DCOM, MTS, ADO, VB. Bottom line is that those degree programs
are not practical. I also ask myself why I should invest time in it. Very
wishy-washy at this time.


Jesse

[simon]

Jesse,

School is a good thing and I always suggest people to go to school. It is
true that no college can teach you all those COM, DCOM, ADO good stuffs.
You know why? It is because colleges are not there to teach you how to use
a specific tool from a specific vendor. Instead, colleges set the
foundation so that when COM goes away and here come COM+, you can easily
adopt to it. Technologies come and go, but what you learned in colleges
stay. Things you learned from colleges like algorithm, logical thinking,
etc etc will enhance your programming skill tremendously.

There is another important thing that you might have overlooked. I
mentioned this in another newsgroup and I am repeating it here because I
think it is very important consideration that most people are not aware of
until it is too late.

In a perfect world, working experience should count more than a college
degree. But unfortunately, we are not living in a perfect world. If you
are working for a corporation with the usual bureaucracy, you will get
passed up for any promotion if you don't have a degree. It doesn't matter
how many years of experience you have, companies always go by the book, and
the "book" requires degree for management positions (either first-line or
middle management, upper management almost always require post-college level
degree). It is hard for them to make exception because they don't want to
open themselves up for lawsuits. Therefore, if you are "upwardly-mobile", I
strongly recommend getting a college degree. Besides, most companies pay
for the tuition, so there is really no down-side of getting one. It only
enhance your marketability.

Just my 2 cents.

simon.






"jesse" <ym8@fiservchicago.com> wrote in message
news:39f4ed36$1@news.devx.com...
>
> Hi, Simon:
>
> Thanks for your message. Many feel that a CS degree is trivial compared
with
> working experience. Some of my co-workers think a MS in CS is nearly
irrelevant
> for my future as a programmer/analyst since no university will teach
students
> the latest technology which I pick up at work place, skills such as
Oracle,
> SQL Server, COM, DCOM, MTS, ADO, VB. Bottom line is that those degree
programs
> are not practical. I also ask myself why I should invest time in it. Very
> wishy-washy at this time.
>
>
> Jesse