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My CS degree program was primarily taught in Java. This was not a problem. Language syntax had little to do with conceptual understanding. I appreciated graduat
by thomaslangston 15y ago
My CS degree program was primarily taught in Java. This was not a problem. Language syntax had little to do with conceptual understanding. I appreciated graduating with a firm grasp of a popular language's syntax and core libraries in additional to an understanding of CS theory.
Can you name a school that teaches a student only one CS course expecting them to be a programmer?
- lloeki 15y ago> My CS degree program was primarily taught in Java. Same here > This was not a problem. This was not either, for me. It was for ~80% of the class though. > Language syntax had little to do with conceptual understanding. A uselessly verbose, initially incantational syntax adds useless friction, which just makes many people minds grind. My experience in teaching languages is that Java and C# were atrocious grind generators whereas Python, Ruby and C were much smoother. JavaScript sits in the middle.
- michaelochurch 15y agoCan you name a school that teaches a student only one CS course expecting them to be a programmer? This is never explicit, but the reason many schools make Java the default language is because it's more "employable" than Python or Scheme. If you're a CS major, you've probably been exposed to Lisp or Python in your AI class, C in your OS course, and ML and Prolog in your PL class and the "default language" matters, from a CV perspective, a lot less because people've been exposed to more languages. The default language matters in this way for those who take one or two CS courses and then try out for programming jobs in the future.