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Users without a CS degree, what aspects of SWE or IT do you feel like you are missing by not having studied CS (discuss.online)

submitted 9 months ago by Blaze@discuss.online to c/cs_career_questions@programming.dev

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What talking with a friend who transitioned from marketing into cloud (AWS) and then into security, and he spends a lot of time studying to ensure he understands all the concepts required for technical discussions.

Curious to see what the community opinions are. Feel free to share your initial background as well.

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[–] xilliah 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Always keep studying and remain curious and playful. Don't know a word? Look it up. Write it down. Try Anki and Joplin.

Don't be afraid to stop a discussion to ask questions. In the worst case you look like a dunce a few times but in the long run you'll know more than the ones who don't ask. It's best to leave your pride at the door and focus on getting things done. Realize that it's not about the next few years but about where you'll be in 10 years.

Find a mentor. It takes patience but there are people looking to support others. Keep the questions flowing. And it's sad that I have to say this but always show respect.

Debugging and refactoring work will teach you a lot. You can simply ask for it. Whenever something is unclear you should take the time to understand it, look it up, and ask around. It's just like learning any language really.

And if you're weak in some area you can always rely on others to help you. That's what teamwork is and I feel a lot of people don't understand it. Especially younger people seem to think that they have to be perfect and independent, but actually interdependence is essential. For example I never learned calculus and so if I need to integrate something complicated I'll find the right person and they are always elated to show off their skills.

Books: Calculus. Databases. Your language. Git. Linux. AI. Whatever you fancy. Oxford press has good starting books for a variety of areas. Keep it fun for yourself, it's a process not a goal.

All in all in my experience the difference between decent and great coders is that the great ones aren't constantly snagged by their ego. They can take a step back from their work and feel safe in seeking out criticism. Identify with the process and not the result and you'll do great!