The banality of the "CS" degree

I recently mentioned a Portland Code School meeting I attended, at CorSource in downtown Portland, to a friend of mine. It started an interesting conversation.

Here's some context: Portland Code School is a crash-course, 12-week program where students work about 90 hours per week to rapidly learn web app coding, expand their portfolios (by deploying web apps onto Heroku), and try to enter the workforce as a junior developer. Top students are regularly recruited by area companies.

The meeting I went to included a presentation of PCS grad projects, a panel discussion, and a presentation from TAO president Skip Newberry

Talking about this program, and my experience at the meeting, sparked a whole conversation about industry habits and how junior developers are educated and hired.

Coding Zen: The Knife and the Banana

There is a knife which cuts a banana. With every slice, the last piece falls into place, and the next piece always sticks to the knife.

When you finish cutting the banana, what do you do with the last piece? 

You take the last piece off as part of the destructor of your Knife Cutting. Obviously.

Keep reading to see an example at work...