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Someone (Knuth?) said there are only 2% students in any CS class who are good. I worked as a CS TA as well, and I found that to be true. The top 2% of students
by p1esk 6y ago
Someone (Knuth?) said there are only 2% students in any CS class who are good. I worked as a CS TA as well, and I found that to be true. The top 2% of students already had practical skills (shell, vim, git, networking, etc), usually because they've been coding since they were 12 and learned by doing cool projects. Sometimes I saw bright students without prior experience picking up those skills quickly (much quicker than I did).
- bonoboTP 6y agoWhy does CS seem unique in this? Why does the same not apply to medicine, law, physics, mechanical engineering etc.? Or perhaps it does? Would you say only a low percentage of mechanical engineering students are any good, namely those who have tinkered with mechanical contraptions from age 12? Does CS require uniquely high intelligence / problem solving ability compared to other fields? I don't think so. Then what do those 2% have that others don't? Some have suggested frustration-tolerance, we could perhaps add detail-orientedness. But these are also needed in engineering. Perhaps the abstract, intangible nature of CS makes it harder?