Starting in high school and spanning the rest of an individual’s life; a bizarre paradigm has permeated American culture. For the average student, high school is nothing short of a four-year sentence. In June of each year students are promoted a grade without having to demonstrate true mastery of any established standards. To make it from one year to the next, all one has to accomplish is avoidance of demonstrating shear incompetence. Promotion is based on not failing…rather than on the demonstration of mastery.

This strange arrangement persists throughout college. The degrees that adorn so many office walls are symbols of completion but truly only indicate that an individual spent four years of his or her life not failing at the coursework indicated by the calligraphic scrawl on the parchment.

The life of a computer programmer is about mastery. Programmers must never stop learning. The pace at which technologies are advancing and evolving make this an industry where failure to dedicate time and energy to the study and practice of emerging and developing standards constitutes professional suicide.

When a programmer's education begins is not as important as the fact that it never stops.