Excellent questions, thanks! I updated the post to some answer of them for you :-)
Udacity, Coursera, university programs are courses, and I explicitly do not want courses. I can teach myself from rigorously organised facts.
I tried Udacity and Coursera and became frustrated very quickly with the amount of context switching between reading, videos, quizzes, deadlines, assessments and the like - it really felt like University where you're being held by the hand.
In future when I'm discussing with a colleague about testing and he conflates integration testing with system integration testing, how can I disambiguate?
Now take in comparison ISTQB, the specialists in testing. They openly provide the exact requirements for you to qualify as well as things like glossaries, such as this one: astqb.org/documents/Glossary-of-So...
To me there is little value in these courses because I've already got the experience, and because I cannot refer to them as an ultimate reference or authority.
The signal is that I have rigour in the stuff that is my secondary occupation, and that is enough to counter 90% of the cases where people get stuff wrong: at the basic level, at the definitions.
Hope that clarifies :-) and many thanks for your question - it contributes to writing better content in future!
I've read your post twice and I'm still unclear what your ultimate goal is. I do think its an interesting topic to discuss. I also believe that any degree or certification is only as good as how much the institution is respected.
I love self-learning and I think its a valuable way to spend time. However, without the direction of a mentor you risk dismissing important concepts because you don't always have enough context to determine its relevance.
Something else to consider is that earning a certificate in a skill generally does not indicate proficiency in that skill. It does indicate the ability to demonstrate the knowledge related to that domain.
Take software testing for example. It is typically possible to adapt to missteps that occur early in the project and self correct applying some strategies learned from books or certifications. But if you inherit an existing project and don't have the luxury of starting from scratch, experience with solving a variety of different problems is typically what will determine the success the project.
Another example, just because someone knows all of the syntax rules to a programming language does not mean they will be able to use tgat language proficiently.
I would advise that with any path you choose, follow up your certified skills with lots of practice under the guidance of someone more experienced. Your learning will progress much more quickly, and more experienced mentors have a way of humbly teaching us how little we really know with respect to a topic.
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Excellent questions, thanks! I updated the post to some answer of them for you :-)
Udacity, Coursera, university programs are courses, and I explicitly do not want courses. I can teach myself from rigorously organised facts.
I tried Udacity and Coursera and became frustrated very quickly with the amount of context switching between reading, videos, quizzes, deadlines, assessments and the like - it really felt like University where you're being held by the hand.
In future when I'm discussing with a colleague about testing and he conflates integration testing with system integration testing, how can I disambiguate?
Point him to an online course which he needs to sign up and pay for, and eventually receive a definition? For example, take a look here and tell me how much content they offer: udacity.com/course/software-testin... - or coursera.org/learn/uva-darden-agil...
Now take in comparison ISTQB, the specialists in testing. They openly provide the exact requirements for you to qualify as well as things like glossaries, such as this one: astqb.org/documents/Glossary-of-So...
To me there is little value in these courses because I've already got the experience, and because I cannot refer to them as an ultimate reference or authority.
The signal is that I have rigour in the stuff that is my secondary occupation, and that is enough to counter 90% of the cases where people get stuff wrong: at the basic level, at the definitions.
Hope that clarifies :-) and many thanks for your question - it contributes to writing better content in future!
I've read your post twice and I'm still unclear what your ultimate goal is. I do think its an interesting topic to discuss. I also believe that any degree or certification is only as good as how much the institution is respected.
I love self-learning and I think its a valuable way to spend time. However, without the direction of a mentor you risk dismissing important concepts because you don't always have enough context to determine its relevance.
Something else to consider is that earning a certificate in a skill generally does not indicate proficiency in that skill. It does indicate the ability to demonstrate the knowledge related to that domain.
Take software testing for example. It is typically possible to adapt to missteps that occur early in the project and self correct applying some strategies learned from books or certifications. But if you inherit an existing project and don't have the luxury of starting from scratch, experience with solving a variety of different problems is typically what will determine the success the project.
Another example, just because someone knows all of the syntax rules to a programming language does not mean they will be able to use tgat language proficiently.
I would advise that with any path you choose, follow up your certified skills with lots of practice under the guidance of someone more experienced. Your learning will progress much more quickly, and more experienced mentors have a way of humbly teaching us how little we really know with respect to a topic.