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I voted Physics because it encloses maths.I've studied Physics and my opinion is that you can't study physics without a fair amount of knowledge on mathematics. The first two years in university felt like studying maths.
I believe that one of my biggest weapons in my arsenal is my studies of Physics,because it combines many abstract fields of science and a very good level of math.I strongly disagree that a self-taught programmer can compete a programmer with a background either on math or physics.
Every little piece of code i wrote beside the pure code technices, had to implement an algorithm either simple or more complicated.So the very first thing i have to do is to study the order of growth of the running time and the asymptotic efficiency of the algorithm.
I don't believe that the majority of self-taught programmers has the slightest idea about these stuff because they need a lot of math and a self-taught dude lacks of guidence and motivation to study such things.In my opinion programmer isn't the one who can write a HelloWorld program in a thousand elegand ways just because he knows the semantics of a language or a framework's libraries.
A little time ago i saw a documentary about genes and species.I must admit that the whole story reminded me a lot of OOP concepts (concering species) and plugin architecture scenarios, objects' reusability (concerning genes).
So i had a crazy thought : "What would be the impact of the combination biology + physics + programming ? "
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predragzakisevic wrote:
I strongly disagree that a self-taught programmer can compete a programmer with a background either on math or physics.
In a way, though, aren't we all self-taught. Our education provides the backdrop or foundation of our knowledge, but where we go from there is very rarely similar to where we started.
I am a CSE (Computer Science/Engineering) grad with a strong physics background (majored in it before CIS), but I think that my background only informs my ability as a devloper. The stronger characteristic is my personality. I am constantly reading magazine or web articles, tinkering, deconstructing, buying books, exploring, and evaluating industry best-practices (patterns + practices). In this way, I am more self-taught than anything else, because my experiences have moved far beyond what I learned in school.
-- Being innovative means not being afraid to get fired.
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BluePineNeedles wrote:
The stronger characteristic is my personality
Right, that's the clue. Studies gives you the ability to abstract problems and to learn quickly. It quite usual that things you study doesn't apply in your job so it's your personality and interest to read books, magazines, forums, etc, ... that construct you as a good developer.
... she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this... Tunnel of Love, Dire Straits.
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marcdev wrote:
it's your personality and interest to read books, magazines, forums, etc, ... that construct you as a good developer.
Yep. And I think most developers, though maybe not the ones on CP, do not do this.
Kevin
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Quite a lot forget to read books and mags and just visit forums looking for people that solve their problems and they learn nothing, because after a while they ask for similar things ... quite surprising 
Marc.
... she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this... Tunnel of Love, Dire Straits.
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If your original premise is true than engineers make the best programmers, because they encompass both Math, Physics and Science. When I received my BSEE, I was only 1 class short of a degree in Math and Physics. To look at it another way, Math and Physics are often called "pure" sciences, while engineering focuses or the application of those sciences.
Others have commented that the answer really depends on your definition of “best programmer”. I believe it depends on your application and your development process. If the programmer is involved in the requirements capture portion of the process, then an understanding of the application domain is of great benefit. If all that is expected of the programmer is to write code that meets the requirements provided, than that knowledge is largely irrelevant. In this last case a computer science degree might be preferable, but your requirements must be very good.
Different skill sets are required for desktop versus embedded applications. From my perspective in the automotive industry either electrical or mechanical engineers have been the most productive in developing software for embedded controllers. I am not dogmatic, because I’ve seen people from many academic backgrounds learn the necessary skills. It’s more the thought process and problem solving skills that matter.
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predragzakisevic wrote:
The first two years in university felt like studying maths.
And the next three years felt like studying applied math. 
predragzakisevic wrote:
"What would be the impact of the combination biology + physics + programming ? "
Medicine research on a "new" molecules using a quantum simulation program running in supercomputers!
Regards
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When I was a teenager an UFO took me to the stars and when I came back I started developing... 
... she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this... Tunnel of Love, Dire Straits.
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Made my day!!! Thanks marcdev.
Farhan Noor Qureshi
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you looser. what kind of a f*** wit are you thinking you where taken by a ufo grow the f*** up!!!!!!!!!! 
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13BOB12 wrote:
you looser
you might be the one i think...
why do you react this way ? are you an alien ? or just xenophob ?? 
it's not a reason to insult an honnest (i believe) programmer as marcdev is just because he has more humor than you... 
TOXCCT >>> GEII power
[toxcct][VisualCalc]
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toxcct wrote:
... an honnest (i believe) programmer
I try !!!
Some people don't have sense of humor even after reading some comments on this survey.
![Rose | [Rose]](https://codeproject.global.ssl.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/rose.gif)
... she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this... Tunnel of Love, Dire Straits.
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marcdev wrote:
toxcct wrote:
... an honnest (i believe) programmer
maybe that was a joke too 
we are here on CP to help each other, not to fight, and disapointly, some don't understand what's been written down
<- to you... salutations to ET :->
TOXCCT >>> GEII power
[toxcct][VisualCalc]
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toxcct wrote:
maybe that was a joke too
... she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this... Tunnel of Love, Dire Straits.
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??  Have you been abducted recently??? Sure, you seem resetnful with them.
... she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this... Tunnel of Love, Dire Straits.
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Believing Allah and his Messanger Muhammed (P.B.U.H)
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Yes u are definetly Right
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I respect your beliefs, but... Islam makes you a good programmer? Come on...
By the way, Islamic clerics recommend against P.B.U.H.; instead it should be Salla Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam (abbreviated as S.A.W.) instead of P.B.U.H because P.B.U.H. isn't a complete translation.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit.
I'm currently blogging about: Homosexuality in Christianity
Judah Himango
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Judah Himango wrote:
Salla Allahu 'Alaihi Wa Sallam
... which means ???
TOXCCT >>> GEII power
[toxcct][VisualCalc]
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It means peace, joy, happiness, complete rest, etc. on him. It's similar to the Hebrew 'shalom', which is as translated peace, yet means much more than peace. There isn't a correlating word in the English language for either word. Thus, Islamic clerics recomment against using P.B.U.H. ("peace be upon him") since it isn't a full translation. See this page[^] for more info.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit.
I'm currently blogging about: Homosexuality in Christianity
Judah Himango
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Following Guidelines of Quraan and Sunnah
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Following Quraan and Hadees.
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It seems to me that three glaring omissions have been left out of the response list:
Service/Technical
Combination
None of the Above
Personally I was orgianlly a field service technician and taight myself to program. I later went back to school for some formal education.
I truth what makes the best programmer depends on the field for which the software will be created. Naturally Science/Physics is best for extremely techinical fields (i.e. aeronautics/avionics). But Business/Accounitng is often better for Insurance/Financial markets. And most commercial applications would benefit by having a few developers involved with Tech. Support backgrounds. A combination is probably best for programming in general.
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I agree. Especially the about combination.
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Personally, I think this question is poor. Especially for a survey. Everyone will tend to be biased toward their own background, and I consequently believe that the results would very closely match a survey that asked the same people what their own major was.
Another reason I believe the question is poor is because there are too many factors that play into what makes a good programmer. There are also too many fields to specialize in. I would not expect a hacker to be good at programming a Matlab-type application. I would not expect a mathemetician to be natural at designing Web-UIs. Experience plays a role too. I would rather hire someone who taught themselves to program early in life, than someone who is a math/science major.
However, I do think that a mathematics / science background certainly helps programmers think critically and methodically about problems -- especially at the lower-level languages (asm, C, C++, Fortran). With the advances of higher level languages, it is becoming easier for non-math/science majors to program effectively. Of course, this is just a rule of thumb; I have seen many counter-examples -- not all mathemeticians/scientists can program, and many non-mathematicians/scientists can program very well.
I taught myself to program starting with Basic on a TI 99-4A in 1st grade, then many different languages, and concluding with C++ in high school. But when I went to college, I got a BS in physics and also went to grad school for physics. I didn't take a single class in programming while in college, but the skills of critical thinking, problem solving, and the scientific method have helped me become a much better programmer.
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