Tech culture is garbage and it's always been garbage. Being a minority in tech is like getting a PhD in being ostracized as much as possible. It's like a hatred hamburger with "different than me" labeled condiments. Sometimes people forget I'm in Computer Science, both in person and on hubski. "You don't talk about it very much 8bit." Yeah that's because I fucking hate being associated with that shit so I just keep my head down, do the work, get the grade, and get on my way. Besides that, Tech conversations are so goddamn boring. "Python sucks. No, Java sucks. No, PHP sucks. No, Ruby sucks." Either that or they're talking about League of Legends. It's a culture that fosters "I know what I'm talking about better than you", even though there's no right way to handle any situation considering it's a concept that never ends. Codebros compare lines of code like its penis size in the Comp Sci help room so damn often that I started asking my professors if I could meet them outside of that room for help just so I could get away from it. The reason why the stereotype is that you have to be a white male nerd that loves videogames and programming is because you have to be a white male nerd that loves videogames and programming, or else they don't take you seriously. I've been to enough start-up meetings and "code camps" and all that other bullshit to know that I don't belong there. I wanna gag every time I walk in the room. And if I don't want to gag the minute I walk into a room, having some dude come up to me and say "what's up, my brother from another mother" not only makes me want to gag, it makes me feel like I'm in a fucking Key and Peele sketch. My brother recently asked why I don't have any friends in college. He's only half right. I do have friends, they're just not in CompSci. They're in English, Philosophy, Anthropology, hell, even Business. But it completely destroys your thoughts and trust about these people when one minute you're playing Smash with a CSCI Major one minute, and the next minute you overhear him saying that Trevyon Martin "probably deserved it." Or when they ogle at my female friend so hard that she comments on how uncomfortable she feels around them. Fuck that noise. insomniasexx ping because I remember when she took a programming class and had to take a month-long shower afterwards.
Yup. The elitism is ridiculous. I'm not in comp sci but I do a lot of stats and some ML here and there in R and Python. My code isn't the most beautiful thing in the world but it gets the job done. I know not to bring this up with computer science majors anymore because they just go crazy. From the way they talk you'd think I'm literally Hitler for programming without having a CS degree.It's a culture that fosters "I know what I'm talking about better than you", even though there's no right way to handle any situation considering it's a concept that never ends. Codebros compare lines of code like its penis size
- Bill GatesMeasuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
I majored in CS (and am now getting a PhD in it), and guess what? Actual academics in CS also write shitty research code! Those undergrad CS majors you're talking to would be horrified by some of the code I've written, and even more by some of the code I've seen out there. The only thing I'd recommend is actually reading some good code (hopefully in your area of interest), just so you get a feel for some efficient patterns that are readable and intuitive and useful for your work.
:') I feel less alone now Wow, that's a really good idea, I hadn't thought of that. Time to creep through my labmates' and advisor's R scripts on the server...Actual academics in CS also write shitty research code!
The only thing I'd recommend is actually reading some good code (hopefully in your area of interest)
It definitely has not "always been garbage." Your expiriences are not how it was when I was in school. As there is more and more money in tech "brogrammers" are slowly taking over, pushing the nerds out and making it hard to distinguish the sincere from the greedy. The data backs up what I'm saying, women in tech were over the 30% in the 70s. I hope you hang in there, we need more people like you. It's funny, people think the lack of women in tech only effects women. But the truth is this "alpha male only" attitude hurts men too. There's tons of valuable engineers who get overlooked because they aren't hyper agressive A types. I think things are improving, but slowly. Keep trying to find other friends in your major. My study buddies ended up being friends for life, and having support in your field is invaluable. Maybe check out local hackerspaces, or volunteer with a tech nonprofit. Plenty of nice engineers are out there, just a little harder to find right now.
This has been my experience during most of my university time, too. I didn't realize it, though, until everyone was into something I wasn't, namely League of Legends. I tried to bring my wife to a group outing with some friends and we ended up just sitting at another table talking to my one friend in MBB because everyone could just not stop talking about LoL. Had some hard reflection after that.Besides that, Tech conversations are so goddamn boring. "Python sucks. No, Java sucks. No, PHP sucks. No, Ruby sucks." Either that or they're talking about League of Legends. It's a culture that fosters "I know what I'm talking about better than you", even though there's no right way to handle any situation considering it's a concept that never ends.