[gameprogrammer] Re: Welcome new members!
- From: Dheeraj Patni <dheeraj.patni@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2010 10:26:13 +0530
very very true Bob...
Everything depends on about your Interest and Passion.
On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 5:23 AM, Bob Pendleton <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 4:51 PM, Vince <uberneen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I was in an interview once where this company had brought in their lead
> programmer, who was generally underwhelmed by my resume. What got his
> attention was that I was self taught and had been programming for several
> years just because I wanted to.
> > I think that kind of passion goes with the territory, and without it a
> person is likely to be miserable in programming, regardless of their
> education.
> >
> > I was too busy raising kids or doing crazy things like enlisting to
> bother with college, but several of my friends did. One in particular
> studied computer science and specialized in programming. He was one of the
> few people I could talk to about my hobbies without getting a blank stare.
> > I like to use him as an example of the quality of higher education being
> in the hands of the individual. He went to college without expecting to
> magically be given the qualifications for his trade. In many respects he
> did what we did, he just paid a lot more for it and probably had access to
> resources and people that made it a little bit easier.
>
> Wow, you covered a lot in a very few sentences. I have a couple of
> degrees in CS. I was a professional programmer including graphics and
> games for better than 30 years. I teach computing "stuff" and once in
> awhile I get to teach a game programming class. One thing I truly
> believe is that no one every taught anyone anything. You can help
> people learn, you can do a lot to make it easier to learn material.
> But, in the end the learner does the learning on their own. I'm not
> saying that school is pointless, far from it. A good course of study
> will make sure you have seen the core concepts and developed minimal
> skills needed to study the subject. That is about what a BS degree is.
> An introduction to the core concepts and a chance to learn minimal
> skills in a subject. It saves you from having to find out what the
> core concepts are and it will try to force you to get minimal set of
> skills by requiring you to go through a set of simple exercises.
>
> And that comment feeds back to the passion part of this discussion. If
> you are not passionate about a subject you will not spend the time
> needed to learn it. If you want to speak a foreign language, you have
> to spend time reading, writing, and speaking the language. In a class
> you will be required to spend maybe 1% of the time reading, writing,
> and speaking, that you need to do to learn the language. If you are
> passionate about learning it you will find ways to do the rest on your
> own. The same goes for programming, and it absolutely applies to game
> development.
>
> I get students who tell my they are taking a game development class
> because they want to be game developers. But, they have never even
> tried to write a game or ever read and article, let alone a book, on
> the subject.
>
> I used to wonder why anyone would think they could become anything
> just by taking classes. Then I learned that there are a lot of people
> out there who have never been taught that they can learn on their own.
> Seriously, I meet people who believe they must be taught something.
> They do not know that they can learn on their own. They do not have
> the concept of teaching themselves. I've encountered schools who work
> hard to make sure that they don't let them in on that secret either...
>
> Bob Pendleton
>
> >
> > Vince~
> >
> > --- On Thu, 11/18/10, Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >> From: Alan Wolfe <alan.wolfe@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Welcome new members!
> >> To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> Date: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 10:05 PM
> >> To add my same story to the pile...
> >>
> >> I too am self taught, with no college degree.
> >>
> >> In high school I spent all my time coding games and apps
> >> for fun / to
> >> learn and read tons and tons of books on all sorts of
> >> various subjects
> >> in the computer science world.
> >>
> >> I'm just now hitting my 10 year mark as a professional
> >> programmer, the
> >> first 5 years were business programming jobs, and these
> >> last 5 years
> >> i've been working as a video game programmer.
> >>
> >> I'm currently working at a huge company in seattle and
> >> loving it (and
> >> am preforming comparable to my co-workers with degrees).
> >>
> >> Tons of personal projects over the years lay unfinished
> >> just like you
> >> guys, I sort of feel like they were learning experiences
> >> that helped
> >> me learn enough to get to where I am at today (:
> >>
> >> On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 1:57 PM, Richard Sabbarton
> >> <richard.sabbarton@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> wrote:
> >> > What I find interesting is the similarity I see with
> >> my own career. I
> >> > am also self taught and also have a vast array of
> >> stalled projects
> >> > (learning experiences) that never really made it off
> >> the blocks. I
> >> > didn't go on to college or university and have worked
> >> my way up to a
> >> > Lead Tech role in Operations for a Software Company.
> >> I don't write
> >> > code for a living but I do work with the development
> >> team regularly.
> >> >
> >> > For me, the most difficult thing is motivation to
> >> complete a project.
> >> > When you hit a problem or writers block or even coming
> >> back to
> >> > something after a break it is hard to make the time.
> >> In fact, I would
> >> > say that the chatter on this list is a regular poke to
> >> get me going
> >> > again and help me remember that the reason I am doing
> >> this is because
> >> > I enjoy it.
> >> >
> >> > Just my 2p...
> >> >
> >> > Richard
> >> >
> >> > On Thu, Nov 18, 2010 at 8:54 PM, Harrington, Timothy
> >> > <tharrington@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> wrote:
> >> >> Thanks - I actually saw it as inspirational and
> >> refreshing as well as eye-opening for the younger audience.
> >> >>
> >> >> Thanks again, Vince!
> >> >>
> >> >> Tim
> >> >>
> >> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> >> From: gameprogrammer-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> [mailto:gameprogrammer-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> >> On Behalf Of Vince
> >> >> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 1:51 PM
> >> >> To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> >> Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Welcome new
> >> members!
> >> >>
> >> >> I don't mind if you share it. As I read over it
> >> again I think it sounds a little depressed, which wasn't my
> >> intent, but the facts remain the same.
> >> >>
> >> >> Vince~
> >> >>
> >> >> --- On Thu, 11/18/10, Harrington, Timothy <tharrington@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>> From: Harrington, Timothy <tharrington@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> >>> Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Welcome new
> >> members!
> >> >>> To: "gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx"
> >> <gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> >>> Date: Thursday, November 18, 2010, 6:11 PM
> >> >>> Vince, there is a great story of
> >> >>> lessons learned in this "novel" of yours -
> >> would you mind if
> >> >>> I shared it with students. I'd of course
> >> change your name to
> >> >>> protect your innocence! I'm often asked to
> >> talk to high
> >> >>> school and early level college students about
> >> pursuing
> >> >>> programming, and programming for game and
> >> simulation
> >> >>> especially. Your story really tells the
> >> reality of the
> >> >>> pursuit best.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Thanks in advance,
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Tim Harrington, Ed.Dc.
> >> >>> National Assistant Dean
> >> >>> College of Engineering and Information
> >> Science
> >> >>> DeVry University
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> ---------------------
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> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
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> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
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> >> >
> >> >
> >>
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> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> +-----------------------------------------------------------
> + Bob Pendleton: writer and programmer
> + email: Bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> + web: www.TheGrumpyProgrammer.com
>
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>
--
-Dheeraj Patni
I AM RICH (from heart)
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