Instead of smashing tools into a single class, they should be incorporated early and throughout the curriculum so they can aid students as they progress. For e

Instead of smashing tools into a single class, they should be incorporated early and throughout the curriculum so they can aid students as they progress. For example we have a sophomore fall class called Linux/Unix Programming that covers about half of these topics and a sophomore spring class called Open Source Software Development that covers the rest (and philosophy, history, etc.). We have an advantage for this sort of work, though, in that we’re not a prestigious research university, but instead a small teaching college that calls ourselves “professionally focused.” Meaning while we have a CS degree, we acknowledge that 90% of our graduates will become software developers. That approach means that while theory is still important, tools for software development are very intentionally incorporated as part of the core of what we teach. Think of it as a blend of CS and software engineering (which is also one of our concentrations for a deeper dive).