Show me your diploma! Does a programmer need to get a higher specialized education?

Do I need to get a higher profile education at a university to become a successful programmer? The question is ambiguous, permanently relevant, and there are very different opinions on this matter. Some say that without a specialized “tower”, those who want to become programmers will only be able to learn how to become “cue-makers,” automators, various kinds of “shape slaps” and other subspecies of an ordinary coder, little respected by true programmers. Others disagree with this point of view, arguing that it is quite possible to become a professional programmer with the help of self-study and those educational materials that are available on the Web. Where is the truth? As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, without a specialized higher education, it will be difficult for many to get into the profession, maybe not in the profession at all, but in some particularly promising and complex programming specialties, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, for example.

60% of professional programmers learned from online courses

On the other hand, statistics tell us that among programmers, self-taught people are, oddly enough, the majority. According to one large surveydevelopers, conducted by the Stack Overflow resource, 56% of the surveyed programmers reported that they did not have a specialized diploma (diplomas in computer science and related specialties are considered such). At the same time, more than 85% of the developers surveyed said that they partially consider themselves self-taught, as they learned at least one of the programming languages ​​or one of the frameworks on their own. Whereas they mastered the profession of a programmer, relying solely on independent education, 13% of the respondents. In addition, 60% of professional programmers who took part in the survey said they had used online courses at least once. According to the same survey, about 75% of all programmers have a university degree, that is, a quarter of all professional coders do not have diplomas at all. And among those of those who have, only slightly more than half (60%) said that they received education in a specialized specialty related to computer science. As we can see, there is no consensus on how much specialized higher education a programmer needs. So let's look at the arguments for and against.

Higher specialized education for a coder. Arguments for"

“Is it necessary to get a specialized higher education to become a programmer? Strictly speaking, no. But it seems to me that the percentage of people who can become serious programmers without formal training is not as high as one might think by reading posts about it on the Internet. Taking the first steps in programming is quite simple, and this encourages many to go into this profession, even if they objectively do not have the ability for it. In fact, if you have no formal education, then you are an amateur. Although sometimes these amateurs can play the role of professionals quite convincingly, even without being them,” said Randall Schulz, an experienced programmer who holds a senior developer position at Box “However, do not forget that the lack of formal education and the lack of a diploma are not the same thing. Some programmers have received full education in the field of computer science, but do not have diplomas,” the expert added.

• Studying at a university lays the foundation of specialized knowledge

  The main task of higher education is to help build a strong and stable foundation for the further mastery of any profession. And, it must be admitted, despite all their shortcomings, even modern universities in Russian-speaking countries still cope with this mission. Education at a university often really helps to lay the foundation from a wide base of theoretical knowledge and skills, on the basis of which the formation of a professional programmer then takes place.

• Studying at a university instills skills related to obtaining self-education

  If it is clear with theoretical knowledge, then what really useful skills can be obtained at a university, given that real practical skills, for which there is a demand on the market, are rarely provided by higher education? Universities teach how to learn, and the importance of this skill for a programmer is difficult to overestimate. Here we allow ourselves to once again quote the writer and futurist Alvin Toffler, who said that “the illiterate in the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn and relearn.” For programmers and workers of other technical specialties, this is especially true.

• The presence of a specialized diploma helps with employment

  Despite the fact that the presence of higher education in general, not to mention a specialized diploma, is rarely an important criterion for hiring a programmer, sometimes having a diploma can still be very, very handy. For example, in cases where a programmer gets a job in an outstaffing company for a foreign employer who doubts his qualifications, having a completed education in his specialty will be an important plus. Also, having a diploma will be very useful for coders who are looking to relocate abroad to countries in Europe or North America, for example.

• With a diploma, it is easier and faster to get a good start in the profession

  Having a diploma in itself, although it will not provide a good job from the very beginning, it can help you get into the procession “from a high start” through internships in reputable companies and, if you are lucky with the university (and the country of residence), thanks to the help of teachers - respected and accomplished experts in the profession.

• Without a specialized diploma, it is difficult to get a job in some types of companies and get a promotion

  For example, to get a position in a state company or an international organization, having a specialized diploma may still be required, since formalities play a much more important role for employers in this area compared to commercial enterprises. For the same reason, the lack of the right diploma can hinder career growth in state-owned companies or organizations.

Higher specialized education for a coder. Arguments against"

And where did this dispute about whether a programmer need to have a specialized diploma or not come from? Isn't it obvious that real experience and practical skills will still come first? Cody Harper, a developer at Sentinel, provides a good explanation in his post on the Quora Q&A site. “Is it necessary these days to get a specialized higher education in order to work as a programmer? In short, no. Although this was not always the case. Up until relatively recently, most large companies, including Google, Microsoft, Apple, and IBM, did list a profile diploma as a mandatory requirement for applicants, and checked applicants for compliance with this requirement. So in the past, without a degree in computer science, you usually couldn't even get an interview, let alone pass it successfully. Thankfully things are different now.”Harper noted. And he's right. Not so long ago, a specialized diploma was really required to get a job in one of the leading companies (not for all positions, but for many). Now this requirement has been abandoned, but the fact that until recently it was very relevant speaks in favor of universities.

• University courses devoted to programming and computer science are overloaded with theory

  Despite the fact that a strong theoretical foundation is an undoubted plus of getting a full-fledged education at a university, one cannot but admit that sometimes university courses are too overloaded with deepening into theory. Yes, and the teachers of technical specialties in universities themselves, even very good ones, are most often scientists, mathematicians, and simply theorists by nature, who are not so much interested in the practical application of programming as the correctness and “beauty” of the written code itself.

• Many of the subjects taught at university are almost never used.

  As noted by many experienced programmers, both ours and foreign ones, modern university courses for programmers are not only overloaded with theory, but also include a rather large baggage of frankly outdated knowledge that is rarely useful to anyone. Most often, these are courses dedicated to those technologies that used to play an important role, but now in the real world they have long been considered the property of history.

• College programs are ignoring many technologies and skills that are important today

  In addition to the fact that university courses include a lot of outdated information, they also completely or almost completely ignore many technologies, skills and specialties that are important in the field of modern development. Such as, for example, QA , game design, cloud computing and other trending techno areas like artificial intelligence or big data . As a result, graduates who rely solely on the university curriculum, without supplementing it with self-education, often not only spend time on excessive immersion in theory, but also graduate with serious gaps in their knowledge that could well have been avoided.

• Universities provide little practical knowledge that is in demand on the market

  Well, as a consequence of all of the above, one of the main disadvantages of getting an education at a university is the fact that freshly minted diploma holders leave the walls of an educational institution with a large amount of theoretical knowledge and very little or no practical experience. As a result, most still have to start their career from the bottom, despite 4-5 years already spent on training in the profession.

Summary

Which of the above can be concluded? Alas, the most banal one: you can become a programmer and achieve a high level of proficiency in this profession without a diploma in your specialty (as well as without a diploma at all). But higher education still brings undeniable benefits for a future career, so completely abandoning it as an idea would also not be entirely correct. But no matter what road you choose on the path to success, do not forget that the only prerequisite will always be hard work and internal motivation to achieve the goal.