Web Developers Are Stupid
mcarthurgfx.com
mcarthurgfx.com
I actually take great offense to the original blog post that is referenced. I work at the other big company across the lake from MS (hint: it sells stuff online), and I dare say the work that I've done here is miles more advanced and demanding than anything I've ever done for a desktop app.
And it certainly includes a deep comprehension of compilers, concurrency (oh boy do I ever), inheritance, etc etc.
This guy is just entirely clueless about what it takes to build a production website. His notion of web development is about as accurate as me claiming desktop apps are just drag-dropping controls onto a form in VB.
Hard: Running a successful business on the easy part.
I don't care what sort of software you are writing. I'm a business owner. I'm a web developer but my real business is dealing with people, not machines.
This is from our friends at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_developer
A web developer is a software developer or software engineer who is specifically engaged in the development of World Wide Web applications, or distributed network applications that are run over the HTTP protocol from a web server to a web browser.
and
Modern web applications often contain three or more tiers, and depending on the size of the team a developer works on, he or she may specialize in one or more of these tiers - or may take a more interdisciplinary role. For example, in a two person team, one developer may focus on the technologies sent to the client such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and on the server-side frameworks (such as Perl, Python, Ruby, PHP, Java, .NET) used to deliver content and scripts to the client. Meanwhile the other developer might focus on the interaction between server-side frameworks, the web server, and a database system. Further, depending on the size of their organization, the aforementioned developers might work closely with a web designer, web producer, project manager, software architect, or database administrator - or they may be responsible for such tasks as web design, project management, and database administration themselves.
People who post "$gOP are stupid" posts are stupid. Read about it on my blog ...
i'd say that the real issue is that there are lots of good web developers, and they are all are under wraps by big companies, doing the things that they like for a big salary. the bad ones need work, so they're very prolific with their presence and marketing.
the most visible web developers are stupid.
Of course there are a bunch of talentless hacks out there calling themselves web developers, but that's just a function of the size of the market and the cluelessness of hiring managers.
If the original author was half as smart as he thinks he is, he would know better than to associate intelligence with one technical field or another.
While I agree wholeheartedly with the thrust of your comment, I have to say - I think the age of the college degree is in terminal decline, and nowhere is this more evident than on the cutting edge of IT.
I don't think we're quite there yet that we can declare the college degree to be irrelevant but we're close. In my company it's a "that's nice" thing. Like being a boy scout. Very good for character. Now, onto your demonstrating your ability, and showing you can fit in, which is all we actually care about.
If a school-leaver who wanted to be a programmer asked me today whether he should go to college, I would have difficulty answering him/her. I am leaning towards "don't bother". And FWIW, I went to college.
FWIW, I didn't go to college. I've often tried to follow lesson plans for the fellows that have, but it can be hard to crack into certain markets without work experience or verified education in an area.
On the other hand, the CS theory gives a very solid theoretical base that makes me a better programmer in all aspects of what I do. None of this stuff is exclusively available in a CS degree, all this information is available for free online if you know where to look. Most decent practitioners will pick up a lot of this stuff intuitively without formal training, but not with the same breadth or formality.
The stuff I did in my CS degree, such as optimizing binary code, writing a (subset of) Java compiler from scratch, and writing radiosity and monte carlo 3d renderers is demonstrative of a certain practical ability to deal with complex subjects that I consider valuable to all types of programmers. Therefore I think a CS degree can continue to stay very relevant, as long as they stick with theoretical CS and don't turn programs into Java and C# farms.
That said, the skills to succeed in a theoretical CS program do not necessarily translate into the ability to get things done in a real world environment, and it would also be a mistake to use it as some sort of litmus test since a college environment is not for everyone.
If you're going to make an inflammatory claim that like the least you can do is back yourself up with at least some anecdotes.