NYCPHP Meetup

[tedd]

At 12:31 PM -0400 4/16/08, Jim Hendricks wrote:
>Guess 24 years experience programming in all kinds of environments 
>with 15 or so languages does not constitute a profession then based 
>on your position that it requires a degree.  I have no degree.  I 
>have very little formal training.

Well... I have three degrees and 40+ years of programming and am in 
the same boat as you are.

With the strict definition of a professional being one that requires 
a license and considering that we don't have one, then we aren't.

The problem as I see it is that who is going to license me? Who is 
going to set in judgement of what I know and how competent I am?

Perhaps some NYC government committee? However, their web site 
(nyc.gov) certainly wouldn't pass my evaluation with 183 validation 
errors. Some might say "So what?" to which I say adhering to 
standards is one of the things that licensing is about.

I've been certified in other professions (Geologist CPG-2297, for 
example), and the problem is what is the certification process and 
what do they consider as important?

The web is changing everyday and I can't see any group keeping up 
with it. Furthermore, what academic institution is going to change 
their course work quick enough to keep what with the changes as well. 
After reviewing my grandson's high school course work, I can see 
clearly that teachers are not on the bleeding edge. So, in my mind, 
even having a degree is of little value other than providing the 
basics of computer science, which you can get along the way.

We have to live with the fact that there will always be people who 
will hold to the belief that a professional is one who has been 
licensed, but that's a very narrow view. My advice is to ignore them 
and go about your work. After all, your clients will be the ultimate 
judge of your work anyway.

Cheers,

tedd

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