This is a reply to Scott Hanselman’s post “Three Things I Learned About Software WHILE NOT in College”, except I’m not listing three things I learned IN College because it didn’t happen (yet anyway).

Things I Learned about Software While Not in College

  1. If it works, don't monkey with it. You'll just break it and then have to rewrite it
  2. Even though your main job is programming, you still have to deal with people. You may even have to deal with clients too.
  3. There are times when purchasing a component is the best thing to do. You don't always have to reinvent the wheel.
  4. Not all code is pretty, especially when fixing legacy code.
  5. A college degree isn't as important as everyone thinks (at least in the software business); it doesn't mean you really know how to write code. It only means you know how to learn.