4 ms·

I find it hard to believe that anyone working as a programmer / software engineer wouldn't be using any actual computer science (as in data structures, algorith

by t_mann 4y ago

I find it hard to believe that anyone working as a programmer / software engineer wouldn't be using any actual computer science (as in data structures, algorithm complexity,...). I could believe that most people working as engineers in civil/mechanical engineering would mainly use Excel, but not that they wouldn't be using exponential functions. But I guess his point is rather that most graduates of engineering schools don't even work as engineers at all, which might be true, I don't know (I even have difficulty believing that given the number of people I know who weren't even trained as engineers and are now working as software engineers).

taeric 4y ago
I don't know, this might not be as far from believing that painters aren't all chemists. Yes, many of them will be mixing paints. No, most of them will not know much more than "these colors mix." Similarly, is a quarterback running ballistics equations to determine if they can complete a pass? All while running an optimization on the timing of various other players on the field to know if they will have time to make the pass?
rad88 4y ago
It might be true but it is a shallow truth if so. 100% of engineers need to learn elementary algebra even if only 25% of engineers "use" it, for a variety of strong reasons. Programming is a more interesting issue. If this blog had argued that computer science should be marginalized within software engineering then he might have found something to say (but which has already been said many times by others).
misja111 4y ago
The vast majority of software developers spend their days mapping database tables to web UI's in some way or another. You don't need any CS or math for that and from experience I can say that most of them don't have this knowledge either. It's not that those jobs are without challenges but they are in other area's, such as requirements gathering and project management.

by t_mann 4y ago

taeric 4y ago

I don't know, this might not be as far from believing that painters aren't all chemists. Yes, many of them will be mixing paints. No, most of them will not know much more than "these colors mix." Similarly, is a quarterback running ballistics equations to determine if they can complete a pass? All while running an optimization on the timing of various other players on the field to know if they will have time to make the pass?

rad88 4y ago

It might be true but it is a shallow truth if so. 100% of engineers need to learn elementary algebra even if only 25% of engineers "use" it, for a variety of strong reasons. Programming is a more interesting issue. If this blog had argued that computer science should be marginalized within software engineering then he might have found something to say (but which has already been said many times by others).

misja111 4y ago

The vast majority of software developers spend their days mapping database tables to web UI's in some way or another. You don't need any CS or math for that and from experience I can say that most of them don't have this knowledge either. It's not that those jobs are without challenges but they are in other area's, such as requirements gathering and project management.