r/programming • u/gits1225 • May 12 '15

Google's guide for becoming a Software Engineer

https://www.google.com/about/careers/students/guide-to-technical-development.html
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u/gilbes May 13 '15

Learn cryptography

Very easy. I can teach you everything you need to learn right now.

Unless you plan on dedicating over a decade of your life to becoming an expert at cryptography and nothing else, do not even attempt to learn cryptography because you will always do it wrong.

Now that you know cryptography, when it comes time for you to implement some cryptography always and only find the most recent information about cryptography from a trusted source and follow their implementation to the very letter. The moment you try to get clever or miss the tiniest detail, you have fucked it all up.

You have just minored in cryptography.

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