3 ms·

I attended the University of Central Arkansas (Go Purple Bears!) starting in 1998. This is obviously not a top-tier school by any stretch. I felt like it was a

by enjo 16y ago

I attended the University of Central Arkansas (Go Purple Bears!) starting in 1998. This is obviously not a top-tier school by any stretch. I felt like it was an excellent program. We spent all of a semester on C/C++. My program was heavy on the math (Calculus, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Statistics, and a few others I can't bring to mind). We studied algorithms, number systems, analysis, and all sorts of topics. The amount of time we spent 'learning to program' was minimal. Maybe I was lucky, but I have to imagine it's hardly different for the majority of programs.

hga 16y ago
You're lucky (you attended a school which is a variation of one of those "hidden gems" benatkin talked about). ABET only requires: "One year of science and mathematics: 1. Mathematics: At least one half year that must include discrete mathematics. The additional mathematics might consist of courses in areas such as calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, probability, statistics, number theory, geometry, or symbolic logic." (http://www.abet.org/Linked%20Documents-UPDATE/Criteria%20and%20PP/C001%2010-11%20CAC%20Criteria%2011-16-09.pdf http://www.abet.org/Linked%20Documents-UPDATE/Criteria%20and...) MIT requires differential equations or linear algebra and no statistics (although I think they used to before the '80s) and of course discrete mathematics which is one of the things I'm sure you're not bringing to mind. (MIT does demand a relative high level of mathematical sophistication, every undergraduate must take or place out of single and multivariable calculus in their freshman year (where it is taught at speed), and SICP/6.001 and 6.01 both use math freely (in 6.01 at least as initially taught you have to use differential equations right off and they don't assume you've previously thoroughly learned them). I've worked very closely with a UVa Applied Mathematics graduate who was taught C++ (but not C, I taught him the new/malloc distinction :-) back in the early-mid 90s. He's not as good a programmer as I am, but he's very solid and most importantly understands what he's doing and the implications of it. Our designs don't fail because we e.g. didn't realize or think correctly about scaling issues.

by enjo 16y ago

hga 16y ago

You're lucky (you attended a school which is a variation of one of those "hidden gems" benatkin talked about). ABET only requires: "One year of science and mathematics: 1. Mathematics: At least one half year that must include discrete mathematics. The additional mathematics might consist of courses in areas such as calculus, linear algebra, numerical methods, probability, statistics, number theory, geometry, or symbolic logic." (http://www.abet.org/Linked%20Documents-UPDATE/Criteria%20and%20PP/C001%2010-11%20CAC%20Criteria%2011-16-09.pdf http://www.abet.org/Linked%20Documents-UPDATE/Criteria%20and...) MIT requires differential equations or linear algebra and no statistics (although I think they used to before the '80s) and of course discrete mathematics which is one of the things I'm sure you're not bringing to mind. (MIT does demand a relative high level of mathematical sophistication, every undergraduate must take or place out of single and multivariable calculus in their freshman year (where it is taught at speed), and SICP/6.001 and 6.01 both use math freely (in 6.01 at least as initially taught you have to use differential equations right off and they don't assume you've previously thoroughly learned them). I've worked very closely with a UVa Applied Mathematics graduate who was taught C++ (but not C, I taught him the new/malloc distinction :-) back in the early-mid 90s. He's not as good a programmer as I am, but he's very solid and most importantly understands what he's doing and the implications of it. Our designs don't fail because we e.g. didn't realize or think correctly about scaling issues.