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> I think the people that first encountered computers when they were relatively simple and constrained have a huge advantage over the rest of us I pity sometim
by tralarpa 8y ago
> I think the people that first encountered computers when they were relatively simple and constrained have a huge advantage over the rest of us
I pity sometimes the young people who are studying computer science nowadays. I studied CS in the 1990s. Compared to a modern curriculum, my courses looked very basic: five years on functional programming, compiler construction, networking, databases, etc. No P2P, cloud computing, mobile applications, IoT, etc.
Now, most CS studies have to rush through the basics in three years, followed by two years where the students have to learn all the tools and techniques that they need for their professional career. I had an entire course ("Advanced topics in databases") on the efficient implementation of indexing and query execution for databases. Today's students have to learn in the same time: a shortened version of the old course PLUS nosql, column-oriented DBMS, DHTs etc.
- tomsmeding 8y ago> Today's students have to learn in the same time: a shortened version of the old course PLUS nosql, column-oriented DBMS, DHTs etc. If your university is good. I took a computer science bachelor the past three years in the Netherlands. In my case, I fear that I learned as much about databases as your basic course taught you, and maybe even less. In particular, the implementation of databases wasn't even touched on. I definitely learned nothing whatsoever about nosql db's, column-oriented db's, dht's and other cool things, though the existence of the first two was hinted. Luckily I can usually figure out what I want to know without help of a teacher, but there's a definite difference in level of difficulty and amount of content between universities today.
- pjmlp 8y agoDoesn't Netherlands publish national classification of university quality, thus allowing a better selection where to apply for?
- tomsmeding 8y agoThey do, and this university came out pretty high up, though probably not at the top. My reason for choosing it, though, was that they provided a maths-CS double bachelor programme. In my experience, their maths programme is of very high quality, so that makes up for it.
- pjmlp 8y agoSure, there are always multiple factors when choosing where to apply. I was just curious, because not all countries do it.
- criddell 8y ago> Luckily I can usually figure out what I want to know without help of a teacher That's probably one of the most valuable things I learned at university.