Apologies if this is only tangentially related, but it's a thought I've often had:
When I went through my university degree (which, admittedly, was over a decade ago), the skills and/or training for the day-to-day tools of software engineering - like git - were nearly never taught in a dedicated way in the same approach as concepts like data structures or algorithms. With degree in-hand the average graduate would probably be more comfortable reversing a linked list or estimating the O(n) of an algorithm than performing a git rebase. Yes, the latter is technology-specific rather than a generalized CS principle, but I would have to imagine that some capstone-type work would really spend time properly training a white-collar worker deeply on a standard few industry tools.
I'm not saying that the author is wrong, because git is indeed deviously inscrutable at times. However, after my twelfth or thirteenth failed merge or rebase, I really _dedicated_ some time to figure out what the hell git was doing from the ground up - which wasn't easy or quick - but I haven't felt truly mystified and incandescently angry at git since. It probably isn't fair to expect every Joe Software Engineer to spend that kind of time on each tool they're expected to use (I'm a masochist and enjoy doing it) but it bums me out to run into the occasional software engineer who never had the opportunity to engage in deep learning and/or practice about their closest tools like a nurse with an ultrasound machine or a court reporter with a stenotype. In a more perfect world a well-rounded software engineering education program would give people space for that, but we're left with "squeezing it in-between sprints" or "on weekends" because it's hard to imagine a company granting people ample time for professional development that doesn't transparently inflate OKRs.
Maybe my anecdote is out-of-date now and the situation is better, but I do still feel like most of us have had that "coworker had to blow away their local repo because git became too tangled" experience in recent memory. I also sort of assume that, in a paradoxical kind of way, code bootcamps may do this type of thing better, but I don't have that experience to draw from.
1) thinking university degrees are meant to prepare you for jobs. This is not why higher education institutions like universities came to be centuries ago. Universities are about sharing knowledge and researching. I would even debate 99% of jobs requiring a degree don't really, software development being one of those. Hell, one of the most important and famous chief surgeons in Italy, with various high impact papers. Was found to never have even started a medical degree.
2) Of all the degrees, I would safely say, SE and even CS are among those closer to day-to-day tools at work.
3) Extracting your experience and assuming it to be similar to those in other colleges, years, countries.
When I went through my university degree (which, admittedly, was over a decade ago), the skills and/or training for the day-to-day tools of software engineering - like git - were nearly never taught in a dedicated way in the same approach as concepts like data structures or algorithms. With degree in-hand the average graduate would probably be more comfortable reversing a linked list or estimating the O(n) of an algorithm than performing a git rebase. Yes, the latter is technology-specific rather than a generalized CS principle, but I would have to imagine that some capstone-type work would really spend time properly training a white-collar worker deeply on a standard few industry tools.
I'm not saying that the author is wrong, because git is indeed deviously inscrutable at times. However, after my twelfth or thirteenth failed merge or rebase, I really _dedicated_ some time to figure out what the hell git was doing from the ground up - which wasn't easy or quick - but I haven't felt truly mystified and incandescently angry at git since. It probably isn't fair to expect every Joe Software Engineer to spend that kind of time on each tool they're expected to use (I'm a masochist and enjoy doing it) but it bums me out to run into the occasional software engineer who never had the opportunity to engage in deep learning and/or practice about their closest tools like a nurse with an ultrasound machine or a court reporter with a stenotype. In a more perfect world a well-rounded software engineering education program would give people space for that, but we're left with "squeezing it in-between sprints" or "on weekends" because it's hard to imagine a company granting people ample time for professional development that doesn't transparently inflate OKRs.
Maybe my anecdote is out-of-date now and the situation is better, but I do still feel like most of us have had that "coworker had to blow away their local repo because git became too tangled" experience in recent memory. I also sort of assume that, in a paradoxical kind of way, code bootcamps may do this type of thing better, but I don't have that experience to draw from.