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There is a myth at German universities, that programming is too practical. So basically you brew there computer scientists with couple internships where they se

by lnsru 3y ago

There is a myth at German universities, that programming is too practical. So basically you brew there computer scientists with couple internships where they see how programming works.

duxup 3y ago
My career coding was a product of a bootcamp. Bootcamps have a well deserved reputation for pumping out unqualified candidates. Having said that the bootcamp I was a part of was hosted at (not really run by...) a local US university. I've worked with computer science graduates from there, good people, capable ... but man many of them should have had a semester of a bootcamp IMO, on top of their more traditional comp sci education. I would jump at the chance to get a formal comp sci education, but I think all universities could use a heavy dose of “practical application” type courses.
Tade0 3y ago
> There is a myth at German universities, that programming is too practical. Am I understanding this correctly that students don't get programming assignments?
- hooli_gan 3y ago
  This is false. In Germany there are Universitäten and Hochschulen. Hochschulen are more practical, at one of these you have programming assignments or projects in nearly every subject. Universitäten are more about the theory but they still have some programming assignments, maybe one subject every semester. At some Unis CS is just a part of the Mathematics department so that is also a factor which makes them even more theoretical.
  - nforgerit 3y ago
    That is the theoretical construct in the German system. However the differences are fading and to me it does not seem to be like German universities, as actors of (self-proclaimed) highest art in their topics, are doing very well. Btw: Though I enjoyed Maths much more than CS, I wouldn't have understood Linear Algebra without watching the MIT Open Courseware thingy by Gilbert Strang. I think that's saying a lot about the German art of teaching (at least at that time).
- icelight 3y ago
  I'm not sure which university they are talking about, but both the universities I went to had both smaller (like weekly) programming assignments and large projects.
  - nforgerit 3y ago
    Sounds like a dream. They didn't have that at my time (2007) at Karlsruhe. Programming was negligible and could be overall circumvented by picking the according courses.
- nforgerit 3y ago
  They do, but at least 15ys ago at university of Karlsruhe (which they laughably renamed to KIT at that time) people could circumvent most of the programming tasks. I looked up the current curriculum a couple of months ago, and they at least seem to have expanded from "3 weeks Java embedded into another course" to a full-blown one semester long programming course. If you ask me, they should make programming the fabric of almost all exercises/tasks, be it in math, cs or sth else along the lines. This would, however, require professors who are in to that kind of stuff and most preferred singing powerpoint-karaoke.

by lnsru 3y ago

There is a myth at German universities, that programming is too practical. So basically you brew there computer scientists with couple internships where they see how programming works.

duxup 3y ago

My career coding was a product of a bootcamp. Bootcamps have a well deserved reputation for pumping out unqualified candidates. Having said that the bootcamp I was a part of was hosted at (not really run by...) a local US university. I've worked with computer science graduates from there, good people, capable ... but man many of them should have had a semester of a bootcamp IMO, on top of their more traditional comp sci education. I would jump at the chance to get a formal comp sci education, but I think all universities could use a heavy dose of “practical application” type courses.

Tade0 3y ago

> There is a myth at German universities, that programming is too practical. Am I understanding this correctly that students don't get programming assignments?

hooli_gan 3y ago
This is false. In Germany there are Universitäten and Hochschulen. Hochschulen are more practical, at one of these you have programming assignments or projects in nearly every subject. Universitäten are more about the theory but they still have some programming assignments, maybe one subject every semester. At some Unis CS is just a part of the Mathematics department so that is also a factor which makes them even more theoretical.
- nforgerit 3y ago
  That is the theoretical construct in the German system. However the differences are fading and to me it does not seem to be like German universities, as actors of (self-proclaimed) highest art in their topics, are doing very well. Btw: Though I enjoyed Maths much more than CS, I wouldn't have understood Linear Algebra without watching the MIT Open Courseware thingy by Gilbert Strang. I think that's saying a lot about the German art of teaching (at least at that time).
icelight 3y ago
I'm not sure which university they are talking about, but both the universities I went to had both smaller (like weekly) programming assignments and large projects.
- nforgerit 3y ago
  Sounds like a dream. They didn't have that at my time (2007) at Karlsruhe. Programming was negligible and could be overall circumvented by picking the according courses.
nforgerit 3y ago
They do, but at least 15ys ago at university of Karlsruhe (which they laughably renamed to KIT at that time) people could circumvent most of the programming tasks. I looked up the current curriculum a couple of months ago, and they at least seem to have expanded from "3 weeks Java embedded into another course" to a full-blown one semester long programming course. If you ask me, they should make programming the fabric of almost all exercises/tasks, be it in math, cs or sth else along the lines. This would, however, require professors who are in to that kind of stuff and most preferred singing powerpoint-karaoke.