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Can we stop with this "programming is hard" business? In a CS program, the programming classes are going to be the easiest ones you'll do. The hard stuff is the

by drxzcl 9y ago

Can we stop with this "programming is hard" business? In a CS program, the programming classes are going to be the easiest ones you'll do. The hard stuff is the math, theoretical computer science and algorithms.

wvenable 9y ago
Your statement is valid but your conclusion is wrong. The programming classes will be the easiest one but the average graduate still produces absolutely terrible code, in my opinion. Even my own code from when I was a student wasn't what I would accept as a manager now. Software development is so difficult that it's hard to teach and most students don't get it -- consequently the classes are far easier than they should be. A large number of CS graduates can barely program at all. Being a good developer requires a lot of experience.
- drxzcl 9y ago
  That's a fair point. To be honest, I'm not convinced we'll ever find a way to do software development well.
- spyhi 9y ago
  The lack of emphasis on software engineering/programming/implementation at my program has been an ongoing complaint of mine. I went to school as an adult, so I know what the workplace needs and I know a lot of universities are missing a critical component of that. Do you have any preferred resources for getting up to speed on the software engineering side of things? I'm picking up stuff here and there, but always looking for more or for convergence.
  - wvenable 9y ago
    I went to a very good school for my computing science degree and they spent a good amount of time on software engineering. But one of my coworkers is going to a terrible school and I'm literally appalled at their degree program. Without going into too much detail, it's just awful. Anyone taking that program would be better off taking their time and money and learning on their own. My coworker is very talented developer; she gets A's without going to class and she is specifically going to this school to get an easy computing science degree while working full time. A good school should teach the foundations of software engineering; what I learned in school was a good foundation for everything I've done since. We learned about agile. We did an entire semester long waterfall project (teaching by explicit example why the waterfall method is terrible). I suspect it's even better and more modern now. I don't know if there is a good convergence of information. I don't think there is no one-true-way to do software engineering yet everyone proposes their own singular method. The best way to go is often to pick a little bit of experience from everywhere.

by drxzcl 9y ago

wvenable 9y ago

Your statement is valid but your conclusion is wrong. The programming classes will be the easiest one but the average graduate still produces absolutely terrible code, in my opinion. Even my own code from when I was a student wasn't what I would accept as a manager now. Software development is so difficult that it's hard to teach and most students don't get it -- consequently the classes are far easier than they should be. A large number of CS graduates can barely program at all. Being a good developer requires a lot of experience.

drxzcl 9y ago
That's a fair point. To be honest, I'm not convinced we'll ever find a way to do software development well.
spyhi 9y ago
The lack of emphasis on software engineering/programming/implementation at my program has been an ongoing complaint of mine. I went to school as an adult, so I know what the workplace needs and I know a lot of universities are missing a critical component of that. Do you have any preferred resources for getting up to speed on the software engineering side of things? I'm picking up stuff here and there, but always looking for more or for convergence.
- wvenable 9y ago
  I went to a very good school for my computing science degree and they spent a good amount of time on software engineering. But one of my coworkers is going to a terrible school and I'm literally appalled at their degree program. Without going into too much detail, it's just awful. Anyone taking that program would be better off taking their time and money and learning on their own. My coworker is very talented developer; she gets A's without going to class and she is specifically going to this school to get an easy computing science degree while working full time. A good school should teach the foundations of software engineering; what I learned in school was a good foundation for everything I've done since. We learned about agile. We did an entire semester long waterfall project (teaching by explicit example why the waterfall method is terrible). I suspect it's even better and more modern now. I don't know if there is a good convergence of information. I don't think there is no one-true-way to do software engineering yet everyone proposes their own singular method. The best way to go is often to pick a little bit of experience from everywhere.