From a scale 1 to 10 how much of a computer person are you?

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Jehovah
Where is the poll?!

^^^

 

[geno]

6.5

 

[Rogozhin]

I consider myself a 3

can do a bit of programming in visual basic, understand the basic principals of hardware and have taken several courses on logic, including modal.

want to do some 3dprogramming work but don't have money ;(

Rogo

 

[BD231]

Emmmm, a 5 or 6 maybe? ALL I do at work is work on a computer in office/web applications, like to build computers but hate spending money on them so I don't build that often. I've built 4 computers for different people which made me some decent pocket change. I look at newegg from time to time, and browse forums as well.

 

[Anubis]

11

 

[imported_Tomato]

Probably a 5 or so.

 

[Ranger X]

Imma geek

 

[Eli]

9 or 10.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: amnesiac
No poll? This thread sucks.

**CONFIRMED**

- M4H

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Elemental007

I'd say, unless you have EE-level knowledge, you can max out at a 5. This includes programmers that do anything other than C or assembly for the x86 platform.

What the hell does x86 have to do with anything?

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Tyler

Originally posted by: Elemental007

I'd say, unless you have EE-level knowledge, you can max out at a 5. This includes programmers that do anything other than C or assembly for the x86 platform.

What the hell does x86 have to do with anything?

Read what I said.

Most higher level languages abstract a lot of the work of memory management. You need to understand how the compiler allocates heap space (Knuth heap is a good example), and stores function calls. This kind of knowledge is pretty intertwined to the hardware for which the compiler was built for. Therefore, in order for a good C programmer to exist, you have to understand the specifics of the platform.

Higher level languages do this automatically. Even C++ abstracts most of the pointer manipulation you have to do! You should know this! I don't know the specifics of perl, but I'm betting you don't have to dig deep into the stack to figure out debugging errors like C programmers do.

And I specifically mentioned EE since most Comp SCi programs seem to start out on Java now. Good for theory and CS, bad for understanding WHY computers work.

EDIT:

I just mentioned x86 as a platform. If I were to write a C compiler for a different platform, be it powerPC or any of the various embedded systems out there, the architecture is different. The structure of the activaton records that govern the functions calls can be different, for exxample. A C compiler for a guidance system in a cruise missile would be inherently different than one for the IA32 archicture, which would be different than for, what is it, IA64?

 

[aswedc]

Really don't care about computers anymore...it just got boring - I need a social or financial reward for something to be interesting, and bragging rights only to nerds while draining my money got old. Used to keep up with everything, but now I'm basically clueless about anything past the original P4 and non XP Athlons. So...I'd say 3/10

 

[dighn]

this is quite pointless b/c everybody is using their own scale

 

[WarmAndSCSI]

12 for me.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: Elemental007
I'd say, unless you have EE-level knowledge, you can max out at a 5. This includes programmers that do anything other than C or assembly for the x86 platform.If you can program well, in C, I'd say you can max out at a 6.5 Simply because, to truly understand why a C compiler works, you need to understand how the computer allocates memory, uses the stack, and stores functions. Such knowledge is fairly rare. With anything else, simply because it can be done through memorization does not make you a "computer" person. Just because you can memorize and spit back software configs and clock speeds does not make you a computer person. And certainly, playing games, reading forums, looking at web sites, or chatting is utterly worthless if you are trying to evaluate how much you know about computers.

So, on a Log10 scale, I'm a 5 now.

What if a person did not go to college for computers, yet learned in other ways and has many years of experience?

I'm sure that the guy who invented the microprocessor did not take a course in microprocessor design, yet he obviously learned the necessary material to invent something that did not exist yet.

I think you are putting too much emphasis on college courses and not giving people who learn things on their own any credit. College courses are only one way of many to learn. It's not like the only options are taking a course in college or not learning at all...

I also find it amuzing that you'll give yourself an 8.5 when you're fresh out of college. It's obvious you have much to learn.

 

[brtspears2]

On your basis of a 10, I have to give myself an 11.

But I say I'm 5/10 at best, still learning the ropes of how to admin systems.

 

[beer]

That's why I said EE-LEVEL knowledge. Not holding a degree.

If you can understand everything an EE does on your own, of course you have the same knowledge.
OTOH I don't think most self-taught people understand WHY or HOW.....the fundamental principle behind engineering.

 

[Marshallj]

.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Marshallj
.

Deep. Insightful. Passionate. Soulful. Helpful. Inimitabe. Thoughtful.

- M4H

 

[glugglug]

<- 15

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: Elemental007
That's why I said EE-LEVEL knowledge. Not holding a degree.

If you can understand everything an EE does on your own, of course you have the same knowledge.
OTOH I don't think most self-taught people understand WHY or HOW.....the fundamental principle behind engineering.

I guess I was raised differently than most kids, my father always pounded into my head the importance of knowing how things work. I remember frequently sitting down with him taking something apart, and he'd teach me to first dissect something and fully understand how it works, and then work on it once I understood how it works and identified the failure point.

I remember rebuilding engines, taking apart refrigerators, VCR's, etc. I eventually moved into PC's.

To me, learning how things work is fun... it's a challenge... I'll take apart circuits and research what each chip on the board does, and how it interacts with the rest of the circuit. I like figuring out how something works inside and out.

Last year I built a neat little stepper motor driver that can be controlled by software via the parallel port on my PC. I even etched the printed circuit board myself.

I definitely do not have an "end user" mentality.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: Marshallj
.

Deep. Insightful. Passionate. Soulful. Helpful. Inimitabe. Thoughtful.

- M4H

Sorry, that was a mistake. I meant to edit it but I ended up making another post which you'll see right above this one. Oh well.

 

[DrumminBoy]

8 or 9 probably, i always like learning new stuff about computers

 

[Scouzer]

5 or so. Interested to learn more, but not motivated to bother...

 

[Mallow]

I'd say I'm an 8.