There's a thin line between telling folks that programming skill often matters less than team skills, product sense, & grit -- which is usually true --
and telling them programming skill *doesn't matter*, which is such a transparent lie that no one believes it.
and telling them programming skill *doesn't matter*, which is such a transparent lie that no one believes it.
We've created a world in which we try to tear down the false idol of "CS fundamentals" by asserting that team skills, product sense, and grit all matter more -- but that doesn't actually change people's minds about whether "CS fundamentals" == "programming skill."
We can say that "CS fundamentals" aren't the same as "programming skill" until we're blue in the face, but in order to actually convince folks... we need to define what programming skill *actually is.*
We have shied away from this because "programming skill" is hard to define.
We have shied away from this because "programming skill" is hard to define.
"Programming skill" is contextual, but here are some of the things I think ALWAYS go into it:
- code fluency
- understanding of platform primitives
- debugging ability
While this isn't a complete list, "CS fundamentals" speaks to *at most* one of these three things.
- code fluency
- understanding of platform primitives
- debugging ability
While this isn't a complete list, "CS fundamentals" speaks to *at most* one of these three things.
The tragedy of this doesn't just lie in all of the idiot jerk gatekeepers who keep folks out of jobs with algorithm interviews.
It lies in all of the early- and mid-career developers from bootcamps who have become convinced that they need CS fundamentals to advance.
It lies in all of the early- and mid-career developers from bootcamps who have become convinced that they need CS fundamentals to advance.
Early- and mid-career developers aren't stupid enough to fall for the lie that programming skills don't matter. They see the skills gap between them and more senior devs... & they assume it must be a "CS fundamentals" gap, because that's the "programming skill" most acknowledged.
Early-career developers "shoring up their CS fundamentals" makes me sad for two reasons:
- many "CS fundamentals" materials have this "we'll fix you!" marketing that I find morally offensive
- it means they're NOT focusing on improving programming skills! Which they need more!
- many "CS fundamentals" materials have this "we'll fix you!" marketing that I find morally offensive
- it means they're NOT focusing on improving programming skills! Which they need more!
It's not that CS fundamentals are irrelevant to programming (as @chrisamaphone points out) -- implementing an algorithm is mechanical practice coding, which does help code fluency -- but programming skill gains from CS work are more accident than essence.
How do we get folks to focus more on programming skills over CS? First, we need to talk more about what they ARE -- code fluency! debugging! efficient skimming of documentation! -- not just what they AREN'T.
Second, we need to figure out ways to teach them that aren't "osmosis."
Second, we need to figure out ways to teach them that aren't "osmosis."
We need to figure out how to make room for and market the kind of refactoring drill work that really teaches code fluency. We need to break down the subskills of debugging such that they are practice-able on purpose rather than by accident. etc.
