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This is true, in the purest sense of CS. However, how much pure mathematical theory can you fill three and a half years of university education with? I would
by jcromartie 19y ago
This is true, in the purest sense of CS. However, how much pure mathematical theory can you fill three and a half years of university education with?
I would imagine that a comp sci department where they never reach a point where the "rubber meets the road" is not worth the trouble.
- Tichy 19y agoI think there are enough subjects in computer science to fill three and a half years with theory, no problem at all. In my CS classes they had exercises, but students where left on their own with the details of programming. OK, there might have been dedicated courses on "how to solve the exercises", but still. My first day in the computer lab I was completely lost, because I had gotten into Computers with Commodore C64 and then later DOS+Windows 3.1, and I had no idea how UNIX works. Other times, though - WWW was in it's earliest infancy, today it is certainly easier to get information on UNIX.
- derefr 19y ago> I would imagine that a comp sci department where they never reach a point where the "rubber meets the road" is not worth the trouble. ...unless your rubber has already met your own personal road long ago. I, personally, learned everything practical I needed to know about programming long before I stepped into a CS class, mostly from self-teaching and the web; I only took CS to "straighten out" my theoretical knowledge. I would have loved a CS department with no computers installed (except perhaps for interactive debugging after it's already clear that you can express yourself in pseudocode.)
- aristus 19y agoOT: I'm in a similar situation: I've 11 years' experience and want to take some CS classes now that I live near Berkeley. Any tips?
- Xichekolas 19y agoI can't speak for Berkeley, but my favorite classes in CS were always the ones on Algorithms and novel languages. Avoid classes that teach syntax, unless the syntax is used to highlight a language feature you have never encountered before, like continuations or currying.
- jdvolz 19y agoI can speak for Berkeley, and you won't have any trouble with taking a class where you have to learn "syntax." I enjoyed the operating systems class there (project work in C++). I don't know if they are still using it, but the first CS class there used to be taught in Scheme using SICP.
- fugue88 19y agoEnglish is my favorite novel language, but I didn't have much time for reading fiction in school. ;)
- Xichekolas 19y agohehe... I meant the adjective, not the noun.