Re: Information Technology versus Computer Science
- From: Randy <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 03 Jun 2005 18:18:55 -0500
Michael Wojcik wrote:
> In article <d7o823$39e$1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>, Randy <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>
>>Most CS programs teach no
>>courses in individual programming languages and they give short shrift
>>to software development theory or practice.
>
>
> Is this actually true of "most CS programs"? Is there a reliable
> study of most CS programs available? These things certainly aren't
> true of the CS program I graduated from in 1991 from Northeastern. It
> had required courses in Pascal, C, LISP, and VAX Assembly, and
> students were also required to take Fortran or COBOL or both.
I don't know what's done everywhere, but from NE's web site, it seems
their current BS in CS requires no courses in specific programming
languages:
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/undergraduate/data/CSBS.pdf
Their course list offers no courses dedicated to specific languages:
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/undergraduate/data/CCIS_CourseList.pdf
That's how it's done in all the CS programs that I know. Most schools
no longer offer courses in specific languages. Some still do, but offer
minimal credits for each course (like 1 semester hour).
I've heard it explained as, "A CS curriculum is composed of courses in
theory and systems. Students often learn a programming language as part
of a theory or systems course, but not as an end in itself."
>
> There was a required course dedicated to software development theory,
> and several advanced courses with group projects that required
> practicing at least basic software development principles. And the
> CS degree required participation in Northeastern's co-op program, so
> students also had two years' experience working in their field for an
> actual company when they graduated.
Yeah, courses in software engineering or a survey course in programming
languages are still common. But a course in C++ or a course in Lisp are
rarities in CS curricula, AFAIK. It may be a different story in IT...
>
> For a baccalaureate that's pretty good. It'd be hard to squeeze in
> much more in the way of required courses in specific languages or in
> software development, with all the other requirements (many imposed
> by accreditation) and still leaving enough elective slots to let
> students earn a minor (or a second major, with reasonable over-
> loading).
>
> Perhaps that is unusual, but I'd be curious to know if anyone has any
> statistics on the matter.
I think it's also a good thing because every programming language should
be learned in the context of how that language was intended to be used.
Learning Lisp by writing "hello world" programs teaches you nothing
about the strengths of the language. Learning Lisp using Peter Norvig's
AI programming book or with Abelson & Sussman's SICP gives you an
appreciation of WHY the language is as it is, and HOW the language is
suited to its target application domain.
Without context, learning each new programming language is going to seem
like slapping yet another bandaid on the same old frog.
Randy
--
Randy Crawford http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~rand rand AT rice DOT edu
.
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