Two Leutinants (pilots) where walking out from the lounge argueing... one pilot says to the other... sex is 80 percent pleasure and 20 percent work; the other says... no no, its 20 percent pleasure and 80 percent work; eventually they get to the airplane and ask the old wrenchturner who has overheard this conversation... "which is it old man, 20 percent pleasure and 80 percent work, or 80 percent work and 20 percent pleasure?"; The old man puts down his wrench, laughs to himself, then looks right at the two officers, "Sirs, your both wrong, its all pleasure... because if there was any work involved, you would have me doing it!"
To make some kinda point... its all a matter of perspective, and or how the information relates back to what you do/want to do with it... a good bit of snot nose jet jocks can fly the wings off a plane, but couldnt tell you much of anything when it comes to keeping it in the air functioning like the day it rolled off an assembly line... theres some programmers out there who will write code like Betoven tapped out the 5th, but know nothing of how those little electrons went from powerplant to keyboard and back; or how much tension is on a piano string for that matter.
Ultimately its not important to what it is they do... its only important that it works; unless your on the engineering side... and even then, what it says on the paper/blueprint is rarely how it plays out in the world.
Wiki- Cant really hate on it... no more then I can hate on most the rubbish on the internet... as long as one keeps the perspective that 'anyone who REALLY knows what the ell' is going on, probably dosnt spend much time typing rubbish out on the internet'. (theres caveots to this of course, but as far as the 'public domain' of it all, its mostly rubbish). -ever notice most devs dont troll forums? Clever observation, or ill'informed co'inky'dink.
College- Like most educational systems, again; the people that are the 'Experts'; work in industry (unless retired and bored); they want a real paycheck... they make real stuff, they dont babysit undergraduate classes. (again, caveots; like anything else; blanket statements are dangerous... but so is a 30% completion rate for graduation in the US). Like alot of degree's and certifications, its a license to learn, not an open invitation to the magi's inner sanctum.
Machines today... wow, in my mind; border on magic... hard working people banging down big money, with degrees instead of wall paper adorn the halls... programming techniques on the other hand... kinda shoddy... more an art then a science really; and like alot of art, is very subjective. Then again, I can count on a single hand how many PHD programmers I have met... got a black book filled with PHD engineers... go figure.
I guess some people are allergic to poverty (art).Sadly, programming (especially in games), is underpaid and overworked; geneous often goes unrecognized, while the engineering counterpart building the very machines the software will run are have deep pockets, R&D; paid golf trips... exc.
An age of horsepower to cover up inefficient code has begun! Rejoice and lay low your petty squabble! As Sirs, its all pleasure; cus' if there was any work involved, you would have me doing it.
Heck, why we are into it... lemme pop off some kids, die of old age, and continue my saga as my own offspring. Why do factories need to compute ware manufacture in real time anyway? Gimme a 'day' report, show my stock price, and call it soup. Once I have a couple traders, let me group them in a useful meaningful 'package'... (if only the dead could speak... and tell us how incredibly dangerous it would be to take coffee from tobago to the caimens by yourself in the 15th century). Give me a tech tree thats unlocked over time, let the races unlock the tree at different rates... let me unlock them and sell back my IP at massive criminal prices.
~ the satisfying ability to blow chunks out of your foe.
