Quiet student

[steelers_fan]

I have taken classes in college before and I am very quiet. I know in the math classes I dont have to say to much, but in the computer science classes will being a very quiet student be a problem. Also, do programmers in the work environment have to do a lot of talking. I thought programmers worked out of a cubicle and really didn't have to talk that much. The programmers I saw at a couple of companies didn't really do much talking they sat at their cubicles and basically coded. :)

[Asif_NSU]

Well, I Dont about what professionals do... But, I can tell u about how much I TALK in the class. Our lecturer says one sentence and I ask two questions. It's very much everyone in the class who gets irritated by this. But, I actually HAVE to do that, bcos our lecturer is not so clear as he should be and it's only by asking him questions I can understand what the HELL is he saying. The thing is ALMOST everyone in the class doesnt have a clue what he says. But they try to remain silent, bcos they simply dont have the guts to ask questions. Well, I only ask relevant and rational questions and I dont find anything wrong with that. If u have doubts and confusion u should ask or talk back. Otherwise, it's good being quiet. My idea is that a programmer needs to be VERY communicative.

[madhur_rulz]

Well, I Dont about what professionals do... But, I can tell u about how much I TALK in the class. Our lecturer says one sentence and I ask two questions. It's very much everyone in the class who gets irritated by this. But, I actually HAVE to do that, bcos our lecturer is not so clear as he should be and it's only by asking him questions I can understand what the HELL is he saying. The thing is ALMOST everyone in the class doesnt have a clue what he says. But they try to remain silent, bcos they simply dont have the guts to ask questions. Well, I only ask relevant and rational questions and I dont find anything wrong with that. If u have doubts and confusion u should ask or talk back. Otherwise, it's good being quiet. My idea is that a programmer needs to be VERY communicative.

Hi,
I really liked ur mail very much.I bliv u fall in my category.
Madhur

[freesoft_2000]

I do not know about other places but i can tell you about the programmers at my place. They are a noisy lot in that they joke laugh and even argue with each other just to get their own point of view ahead. Basically it can be considered quite fun as there are no bad grudges being held by anyone but you have to know what you are talking about as most professional programmers hate programmers who do not know what they are talking about.

I hope this helps you

Your Sincerely

Richard West

[Sharon White]

I guess programming can be like other jobs, it depends on where you work and what kind of programming you do.

I'm a bit of a practical joker.

I set up a few web pages, only the first two got stuff in it. Gives you an idea what I'm like.

ABCDEF

[Chainsaw]

Much like this forum, if you don't talk with the people you work with you won't know anything. In my long years of working in Sillicon Valley, any docs you see are out of date when the are in the printer tray! It's the human interaction that keeps you in tune with what is going on, both day-to-day and strategically.

There may be jobs where that isn't the case, but for me it makes work more fun.

[pgwolfe]

I have had a variety of jobs dealing with programming. I have created the written documents for programmers to perform their work… and in another capacity, I did the actually programming. I’ve also been heavily involved in creating testing plans for both the IT organization, and the client organizations.

By no means am I an expert, but what I have learned is that the most important part of every one of the above positions is communication. This includes written and oral. I don’t care if you are the best programmer, CEO, smartest person in a company, or an administrative assistant; if you cannot communicate your ideas, you are worthless.

Don’t pursue a job simply because you feel you can pound out code on a keyboard and don’t think you have to talk. Instead, find some training that will enhance your communication skills. Remember, to get the programmer position, you need good communication skills (both written and oral). Your resume has to be noticed, and you also have to convince someone to hire you in an interview. Good luck.

[Puckdropper]

You can be a quiet student in CS class, but don't stay quiet out of class. Read the appropriate text, take good notes, and ask SOMEONE questions. I've asked questions of my professor, some random student in a CS lab, and a person I know quite well.

If your prof is as good as mine, you can ask questions any way you can get ahold of him/her. I've emailed him, asked before class, during class, after class, dropped by his office, stopped him in the hall, etc... (Have yet to pick up the phone and call, but I've considered it...even during the summer. ;-) )

[big_k105]

well from my year of work experience is that the more you can communicate when being give a project the more you will get to start the project as what kind of specifications are wanted and what not. if you cant communcate well you will be give a very vague discriptions of what they want and it isnt that easy to figure out what is wanted of the program you are suppose to write for them. :) just my 2 cents :)

[steelers_fan]

i do talk some.... not a total mute. Need to build up my communication skills though.

[big_k105]

i know what you mean as i am just like that but have found that i need to talk more so i can get more info out of ppl so i know what i am actually suppose to do on a project :)

[red_evolve]

Greetings.
Another person just like you here.
I prefer to talk to the people I meet on the Internet.
I'm not ignorant but just am too shy or it's just that I don't know what to say to people when I actually come face to face with them.

[DaveSW]

If all computer programmers sat in boxes and didn't talk then we'd have the wonderful situation where they wouldn't know what the general public wanted from their programs... Which seems to be fairly common at the moment lol.

I think Communication is essential for a programmer.
:twisted:

[gusano79]

...
I think Communication is essential for a programmer.

Definitely. Programming is basically an engineering discipline, but a programmer is closer to an interpreter or translator than any other kind of engineer. Sure, you can get the job done sitting in a cube and coding, your only companions a stale beer and a cold slice of last night's pizza (and many do), but there's no substitute for proper communication. This goes for any business, really.

--sg