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Computer programming and computer science are related, of course. But they're not the same thing. Computer programming is like writing and performing music, and computer science is like music theory. All the theory in the world won't help if you don't learn how to code.
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Like it: bang on as far as I am concerned especially as I am one of the self taught now doing a CS degree and finding it dull, uninspiring and not much to do with real life problems that I'm paid to solve (probably going to change to something more exciting like Media Studies  )
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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Then there is Computer Engineering. This is where you try to design applications that are maintainable, and take into account performance issues.
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Clifford Nelson wrote: Then there is Computer Engineering
I think you meant Software Engineering. Computer Engineering is a cross-discipline field between EE and CS.
/ravi
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I thought computer science was more like developing new instruments to be played by people who just follow instructions "in a desultory manner".
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I don't know, my curriculum seems to be pretty related. But then again, bedsides some of the electives, the only really theoretical class is algorithms (which I'd argue is the most important theory part anyways). We even have a 6 week summer course (required of all CS majors) that puts you in a team and gives you a real project to work on from a local company, it's basically a full-time job that you get charged to do.
Until you get to graduate level anyways, then most of it is theoretical.
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He has some good points, but overdoes it a little bit.
I started self-learning programming when I was 9 years old (before I learned Computer Science), and I never found Computer Science boring in college. Maybe he thinks it's boring, but I'd bet that more than 0.9% of programmers found it interesting.
Also, I disagree with the idea that you should wait until you need theoretical knowledge before you learn it. Sometimes it ends up working that way, but it's not usually the best way.
I do agree that most of what programmers do has little to do with computer science; it's a hybrid between applying computer science concepts and other stuff. For instance, if you're writing a system to manage corporate information, you're mostly managing corporate information and using a little bit of computer science to help yourself along. Managing corporate information has been around for centuries (using paper and ink); it's just that now, we can do it more efficiently with computers.
I also agree that computer science professors tend to be out of touch with the software development industry; they seem to think that the majority of the work has to do with solving mathematical issues, and it's not even close to true. I don't mind taking on mathematical challenges, but I know that I'll rarely end up doing any on normal workdays.
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Yesterday Twitter announced that it was moving away from client-side rendering back to server-side rendering in order to improve page load time. Today I found myself having to defend my position that server-side rendering will almost always be faster. I figured I'd blog about it. Only considering performance, should you ever use client-side rendering?
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JSX is a statically-typed, object-oriented programming language designed to run on modern web browsers. Being developed at DeNA as a research project. Yet another JavaScript alternative.
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In the decade since its introduction, designers and researchers have used (and sometimes abused) the CAP theorem as a reason to explore a wide variety of novel distributed systems. The NoSQL movement also has applied it as an argument against traditional databases. The great database smackdown: ACID vs. BASE vs. CAP.
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If you’re looking at a smartphone application then Windows 8 isn’t for you; it’s not for smartphones. But if you’re looking at a tablet application, take a good hard look at Android and the figures. I took one look at them and I’m not convinced. And that’s why I have paused all our Android development in favour of Windows 8. Working with Windows 8 is simple and enjoyable... Working with Android is complicated and painful.
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HyperCard will soon be 25. What ever happened to it? I searched around and found venture entrepreneur and coder Tim Oren's 2004 eulogy for the program, written the week that Apple withdrew the software from the market. HyperCard's problem, he argued, was that Apple never quite figured out what the software was for. Plus: Five cool HyperCard stacks.
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Windows users are one step closer to getting a major system facelift — and if today’s release of Microsoft’s latest OS build tells us anything, it’s that the company is putting the system’s strongest focus on home-grown software. Preview of coming (Metro) attractions.
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we made one app for windows 8 metro. It is interesting to develop the apps for windows 8....
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Where has all the darkness gone? Appliances, toys, and gadgets fill our nighttime hours with an ever-present glow. It's time to turn off the extraneous illumination. Lite-Brite, making things with liiiiiiiight.
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With the first ultrabook-friendly CPUs from Intel's third generation of Core i-series parts showing up (and being benchmarked), it may be time for a refresher course on what it means to be an ultrabook. Thin, fast... and not from Apple.
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Accidentally leaked blog suggests Win 8 RC ships today. Link.[^]
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When I first started using PHP I didn’t like it at all, but I learned it. Do I continue to do work with PHP or do I choose something newer and flashier to get the job done? PHP was my choice and it remains my choice. But why? Here are 10 reasons. It just works.
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wow, I am a c# developer, I could tell 10000 reasons to why NOT to use PHP 
We have a phrase in Spanish that fits here(poorly translated):
"Everyone hangs himself with the rope of his choice"
don't know if there is a similar one in English.
Leonardo Paneque
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Hoist with his own petard,[^], or Eating your own dog food[^] perhaps?
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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I can't get the site to load. Perhaps the Code Project effect has taken it down. Or maybe the site was written in PHP and it's functioning as should be expected. 
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First you've got the language itself which is one giant WTF but then you're also faced with the sample code that floats round the web which includes but is not limited to any of the following:
No exception handling
No logging
Suppressing errors using "@" and simply letting the program run on
Scarce use of functions, let alone any proper encapsulation
Code reuse abuse via copypasta
Organisation of code through grouping unrelated bits of PHP into files like "App_Core.php.inc"
Database access code that formats and returns results as HTML
Using crontab to call a PHP script that then uses curl to call another PHP script that resides on an Apache server, because more potential points of failure mean that the chances of something failing at one specific point are greatly reduced
Opening a DB connection at the start of every request and closing it right at the end of every request, regardless of whether you need it or not
Creating a db schema that doesn't actually enforce relationships and implements FK relationships as comma-separated values in the PK table
I'm sure there are actually some very good PHP programmers out there, which begs the question: if they're technically well-versed, what are they doing with PHP?
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I think PHP is just fine for small projects. It comes free with Linux hosting, so it's cheaper than the alternatives.
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