Subj : Re: Are programmers like this in the real world?
To   : comp.programming
From : Artie Gold
Date : Sat Jul 23 2005 11:06 pm

Mike Deeth wrote:
> 
> Matthias Kaeppler wrote:
>> Those
>> classes are usually held for people who are NOT
>> proficient with programming concepts.
>>
> 
> I wish that were the case.  But (and I think deep inside you already
> know this) they are actually held for EVERYONE WHO WANTS A B.S. DEGREE
> IN ANYTHING, regardless of whether they've already been programming for
> decades or not.

So it's a `CS for poets' course. What do you expect?
> 
> Oh, and of course, at this uni the language used is Java.

I agree that this is an unfortunate development...
> 
> Physicists and mathematicians everywhere, when they need to start doing
> some serious number crunching, are going to turn to.... Java.

....but not for the reason you cite. Java has become the flavor of the 
month for introductory courses, which I believe to be a bad thing 
(though it's probably better than, say, C++ for that purpose; memory 
management gets in the way). Something like Scheme would be better -- 
covering multiple paradigms with a minimum of syntax.

If you need to do number crunching, there are better languages for it. 
One would assume that whatever *concepts* are learned could be easily 
translated into whatever language was more appropriate for a given task.
> 
> Mother
> fucking
> Java.
> 
> Yeah right.  It's a scam for the CS dept. to get more money.
> 
Sure. It's a `service' course, just like `Freshman English' (or whatever 
it's called these days) or `Calculus for non-mathematicians' or whatever 
else. So what's your point?

--ag
-- 
Artie Gold -- Austin, Texas
http://it-matters.blogspot.com (new post 12/5)
http://www.cafepress.com/goldsays
"If you have nothing to hide, you're not trying!"

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