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> after my year they switched to either using Java or Python They do this because of intense negative feedback from students who don't like having to learn lan

> after my year they switched to either using Java or Python They do this because of intense negative feedback from students who don't like having to learn languages for which there is no job market.

mmcdermott 6y ago
Which is fair, but also kind of funny. In theory, what most of us do day to day is software engineering and computer science is a niche corner of mathematics. But the broader expectation is that the math-niche teaches day to day programming.
iamevn 6y ago
I'm not sure this was the case for us, there were plenty of other courses in the major that involved both widely used language and more niche ones. I think it was more that we didn't have enough professors who were bought-in to Ada to handle the volume of students in those initial courses. The professor who used to teach all the intro courses (and was the biggest advocate for Ada there) became the department chair and let other people take over those courses so he could focus what time he had on some of the upper level courses. Pretty sure they still use Ada in their concurrent programming course too. Edit: Got curious and I think this is all the languages I used as part of an undergrad CS degree in approximately the order I first used them: Ada, Racket, C, Make, x86 ASM, Java, Bash, batch script, PHP, JavaScript, MySql, Python 2, Inform 7, Blender Game Engine visual scripting, ICON, Lua, Erlang, and ROBOTC I'm honestly surprised how much variety there was despite the only academic language being Racket.
goatlover 6y ago
There's something wrong with the idea that you go to college for a computer science degree just for the job market, and not the science. If getting a job is all that matters, surely a trade school or boot camp is the better route. But then I'm of the opinion that college shouldn't be in the market of mass producing future workers.
- flukus 6y ago
  The problem is employers require computer science degrees, especially for entry level jobs. Then there's things like coding tests about inverting binary tries and such that tends to be less thoroughly covered in trade schools. When employers have more realistic demands we might see some change. At the same time colleges are morphing into expensive trade schools, their advertising is full of phrases like "preparing you for the real world".
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    In Portugal it used to be relatively easy, do you want a degree with focus on the job market? Polytechnic, with 3 years duration. Do you want to learn to learn, and be prepared for any kind of challenge, with a professional title? University, with 5 years duration Now with Bologna, the rules changed a bit, however the universities sell the fact that now with 5 years the degree includes the master title, which used to require up to 3 years more on top of the 5. As far as I am aware, other European countries have similar approaches, and in most of them in what concerns state universities, the biggest expenses are lodging, food and getting the required teaching materials.

> after my year they switched to either using Java or Python They do this because of intense negative feedback from students who don't like having to learn languages for which there is no job market.

mmcdermott 6y ago

Which is fair, but also kind of funny. In theory, what most of us do day to day is software engineering and computer science is a niche corner of mathematics. But the broader expectation is that the math-niche teaches day to day programming.

iamevn 6y ago

I'm not sure this was the case for us, there were plenty of other courses in the major that involved both widely used language and more niche ones. I think it was more that we didn't have enough professors who were bought-in to Ada to handle the volume of students in those initial courses. The professor who used to teach all the intro courses (and was the biggest advocate for Ada there) became the department chair and let other people take over those courses so he could focus what time he had on some of the upper level courses. Pretty sure they still use Ada in their concurrent programming course too. Edit: Got curious and I think this is all the languages I used as part of an undergrad CS degree in approximately the order I first used them: Ada, Racket, C, Make, x86 ASM, Java, Bash, batch script, PHP, JavaScript, MySql, Python 2, Inform 7, Blender Game Engine visual scripting, ICON, Lua, Erlang, and ROBOTC I'm honestly surprised how much variety there was despite the only academic language being Racket.

goatlover 6y ago

There's something wrong with the idea that you go to college for a computer science degree just for the job market, and not the science. If getting a job is all that matters, surely a trade school or boot camp is the better route. But then I'm of the opinion that college shouldn't be in the market of mass producing future workers.

flukus 6y ago
The problem is employers require computer science degrees, especially for entry level jobs. Then there's things like coding tests about inverting binary tries and such that tends to be less thoroughly covered in trade schools. When employers have more realistic demands we might see some change. At the same time colleges are morphing into expensive trade schools, their advertising is full of phrases like "preparing you for the real world".
- pjmlp 6y ago
  In Portugal it used to be relatively easy, do you want a degree with focus on the job market? Polytechnic, with 3 years duration. Do you want to learn to learn, and be prepared for any kind of challenge, with a professional title? University, with 5 years duration Now with Bologna, the rules changed a bit, however the universities sell the fact that now with 5 years the degree includes the master title, which used to require up to 3 years more on top of the 5. As far as I am aware, other European countries have similar approaches, and in most of them in what concerns state universities, the biggest expenses are lodging, food and getting the required teaching materials.