3 ms·

Where in the world can you get a computer science degree without hearing about consensus algorithms?

• tester756 3y ago
  Pretty much everywhere below country's top3, top5? I've got masters degree and I don't think anyone even mentioned word "paxos" or "raft" during my 5 years there. Fortunely internet is a thing and I could read something about this topic. I know graduates from various public schools and people who heard about paxos (let alone can implement it) are tiny %.
  • ryandrake 3y ago
    I have a Comp Eng degree from the 90s, been in the industry since then (~25 years), and I have never heard of Paxos. Even the top results from a Google search yields that Paxos is one of: 1. a blockchain company, or 2. a Greek island. More than halfway down the page there is mention of an algorithm of some kind. Probably not a good example of "baseline knowledge" for a software engineer.
• _gabe_ 3y ago
  You’ve just shifted the goalpost twice here. I never learned about Paxos, but I did learn about consensus algorithms. Second, learning about something, and implementing something are completely different. Most CS graduates have an idea of how syntax parsing works. How many can implement a parser? What about a syntax highlighter? Most graduates have an idea of how an OS works. How many can build an OS? I guess if you’re always using libraries though, you may mistakenly be thinking that these libraries are just doing trivial work. Once you dive in and try to implement the low level stuff, then you realize how big of a disconnect there is between a fuzzy idea in your head and the lines of code that constitute that idea in reality.