Computer Science degree versus a degree apprenticeship

[S1ng1ngSpr1ng]

My son wants to be a software developer and loves coding. The expectation seems to be a Computer Science degree and I’m not seeing why. He hates the theory in Computer Science and I’m not sure what use there would be for it in a developing job. He has seen degree apprenticeships with a different degree you do whilst doing a coding job. Surely that is better. His dad is a software developer and says nobody has ever asked about his degrees just his coding experience. So why the funnelling into a computer science degree? Wondering if I’m missing something but don’t want him to make a horrible mistake. Which would be better or is there not much in it?

OP, with the greatest respect people with CS degrees probably wouldn’t be coders. (You said DH doesn’t know any coders from CS). Coding and programming are not quite the same thing; I will see if I can find a useful article to link to. This comes back to my point about different people doing different things.

If your DS is 100% sure that coding is his true love that is a point in favour of the degree apprenticeship. But he is making the choice from a limited perspective, rather like marrying one’s high school sweetheart. It can work out, but you will never know what you are missing.

’Difference Between Coding and Programming’ at Interviewbit.com

has a chart which gives a good feel for the difference between coding and programming. The last time I created links for MN people got warned off them, so I won’t do that.

Essentially, coding is a subset or subactivity of programming. The latter is much more comprehensive. None of the most popular articles attempting to explain the difference do a great job, IMO.

I have hired/supervised thousands of technologists during my career.

If he’s very academic (A in maths/FA) and can cope with the strong maths/logic in a computer science course, hands down do that. It’s an amazing discipline and a career where a 6 figure sums beckons in your 20s if that’s what you want.

If he’s fairly academic but maybe not with as strong maths (so less than an A in A level maths, say) then a degree apprenticeship is a perfect route. You might not make it to the salaries of the CS graduates as quickly or as easily but can get there of course. Programming isn’t the only route; infrastructure now needs programming skills to do most roles and cyber is very well paid.

Regardless of the way in, he will always have work. Hope he enjoys it!