Dan Mayer's Blog

Recently while discussing technology with a professor, he mentioned that after leaving college our education and knowledge are outdated in about 2 years. I think this is not even close to true. I mean technology does move fast but I have worked on numerous projects. None of which move as fast as the world believe technology moves. I have been involved in many groups creating projects that are in development for years. Also the use of things like Java and C++ have been around for many years to knowledge of there development would be usefull. There are always many cutting edge technologies being created and tested but many if not most never get adapted into general use. I would say one of the bigger changes occuring right now is the move to .net frameowrk in windows developers.
Also most of the concepts you learn about programming are how to think and solve problems. Not how to do this only in a specific language or situation. Just through out my college career i have been moving from one language to another. Anyways i don't think our education dies as quick as some may believe.
Lastly, I was wondering why some projects do take so long. Some projects that I have worked on I can contribute a significant and large part of the program in a few weeks. Then it doesn't seem to progress from any other side for several months. This slow rate of program development makes me wonder where the hold up in most large developments are. Perhaps it is only this way while working at a university research group. Perhaps it is all of the overhead the university requires, and the overhead of always working for and towards grants. Presentations to keep money flowing consume alot of project time.