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Commencement Address
I gave this address in 2000 to the University of Oregon's Computer and Information Science department's commencement.
Looking back, I stand by what I said. If I'd known that a down-cycle was so near, I might have mentioned to the new grads that they should not be derailed by temporary setbacks. High-technology is always a little volatile, so sooner or later almost everyone finds themselves downsized, or at least not working in a great situation.
But new opportunities always come along. Most of the young people I spoke to did fine. My main points below remain relevant.
Congratulations to you on this important day. Enjoy it. I know you will. Again, congratulations.
I am your commencement speaker. I must give you advice for what lies ahead. This is a happy task, because many good things lie ahead. To paraphrase the minor philosopher Ed McMahon, you probably have already won. This round in the game of life goes to you. Those of you who seek jobs either have them or should soon get them. Those of you who are pursuing advanced degrees will find departments eager to have you as students. Some of you will become voluptuously rich. Most of you won't, but most of you will be prosperous. Few if any of you will hereafter experience poverty.
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Not that life is ever easy, of course. Life is always hard. And you still have to face the big questions:
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Who am I?
Why am I here?
What are my responsibilities to others?
How much should I compromise my beliefs?
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Those are hard questions. Surprisingly, as you get older, they get harder. Well, you have your whole lifetime for them, and I can't even scratch the surface today. So instead I'll talk about computers. I mean to say something about computers as a profession. I'll say a little about programming as a craft, about how non-programmers will see you, and what you should expect of yourself. This is slanted towards the industrial computer person, because that's what I know. But those of you planning a career in academia will also have to face the responsibilities of a professional.
Of course, if you are Shawn Fanning, you can ignore everything I'm about to say. You can, but I think you should still listen. Shawn has the cover of Newsweek, but he doesn't have an exit strategy. He's having a great ride, but it may still be a long ride. If the luckiest 19-year-old programmer in the world should consider what it means to be a computer professional, then we all should.
The Business of Cutting Code
While there have been changes, the education you received is not fundamentally different from the one I received here when most of y’all were in 2nd grade. So, I can tell you what your education will do for you. You received a strong formal background. You'll benefit from it. It will suggest ways to solve problems, and warn you away from unworkable approaches. But you won't make it with what you know now. You have more to learn.
Some of you have worked in industry, but few of you have worked full-time for months and years on a single software system. You haven't architected large systems. Nor have most of you had to debug code you didn't write, or that you wrote so long ago you can't remember how it works. You probably haven't had to decide the economic trade-offs of repairing a buggy piece of code, rewriting it, or living with the buggy consequences. You haven't had to integrate two incompatible systems brought together when your company merged with another. You will have to do at least some of these things, and other things I didn't mention. This will make the years ahead interesting.
That's OK. You'll still be welcomed into the cult of code. But you will have to figure this stuff out. Quite a few of you sitting here today will never again take a graded class, but for all of you, your education is far from complete. I mean that very concretely: for the next few years, you will probably spend most of your time learning. Unfortunately, your company won't give you much formal help. You will be directed to learn what you need to know to complete your tasks, but you will not be directed to educate yourself in any systematic way. That's the way it is. You're a pro now: you're expected to figure this stuff out for yourself.
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