4 ms·

We did many of these in the course of a CS degree 25 years ago, IE: scientific calculator, a server, interpreter, a VM… I would expect people working in industr

We did many of these in the course of a CS degree 25 years ago, IE: scientific calculator, a server, interpreter, a VM… I would expect people working in industry who have completed a degree have done most of this list in the course of their studies?

devwastaken 3y ago
Most universities have defaulted to standardized materials to one of the big publishers and have largely removed most of the difficult parts because uni's want students to have a "broad knowledge" of other subjects as well as large amounts of faculty turnover. Often with the intent that those students complete politically motivated coursework, some is now a requirement to graduate. These project types are generic and avoided because students will just copy+paste others work. It provides no signal to the quality of students without digging into work and figuring out if they actually built it. Seemingly nobody has time for that, it's easier to pawn it on Title IX leetcode and nepotism because there isn't any shortage of candidates.
eddd-ddde 3y ago
Meh, I'm almost graduating from my CS degree. It was... underwhelming... to say the least. We did have data structures and algorithms at some point, also learnt a bit about assembly and a /tiny/ bit of processor architecture. But ultimately, my courses felt, like so little for how much I paid and the supposed "level" of my university. The last 4 semesters or so could be summarised as, role playing agile development while making awful websites for awful companies (we work with real companies which is kinda cool except it sucks so much). I don't know if it's just my uni, or my country, or my campus, or whatever, but I /wish/ I had the fortune of getting to actually build this stuff for class, instead of boring web development every single day.
- lispisok 3y ago
  CS programs have been moving away from computer science education and moving towards teaching how to make webapps because students are more interested in resume development to get a job than getting an education and universities want their tuition dollars. Given the cost of college and the realities of the job market I cant blame the students either.
- all2 3y ago
  My last semester was marked by operating systems (Unix V6, which you can find the C code for still floating around) and interpreters - in which we implemented a simple python like language called "Wumbo".
- sentfromrevolut 3y ago
  [dead]
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
poulsbohemian 3y ago
So here's a question: Why aren't students doing these things, in either high school or college, regardless of what's being taught in our institutions? I'm fairly certain we built a scientific calculator in pascal while I was still in high school and then did it again in college in C++ or maybe other languages. Building a simple http server 25+ years ago wasn't exactly novel, so today I would think it would be an appropriate high school level project that a motivated student could do on their own.
- sn9 3y ago
  Because there's a broader range of things you can make, and the web is the largest source of inspiration so takes up the lion's share of projects contemporary students produce.

devwastaken 3y ago

Most universities have defaulted to standardized materials to one of the big publishers and have largely removed most of the difficult parts because uni's want students to have a "broad knowledge" of other subjects as well as large amounts of faculty turnover. Often with the intent that those students complete politically motivated coursework, some is now a requirement to graduate. These project types are generic and avoided because students will just copy+paste others work. It provides no signal to the quality of students without digging into work and figuring out if they actually built it. Seemingly nobody has time for that, it's easier to pawn it on Title IX leetcode and nepotism because there isn't any shortage of candidates.

eddd-ddde 3y ago

Meh, I'm almost graduating from my CS degree. It was... underwhelming... to say the least. We did have data structures and algorithms at some point, also learnt a bit about assembly and a /tiny/ bit of processor architecture. But ultimately, my courses felt, like so little for how much I paid and the supposed "level" of my university. The last 4 semesters or so could be summarised as, role playing agile development while making awful websites for awful companies (we work with real companies which is kinda cool except it sucks so much). I don't know if it's just my uni, or my country, or my campus, or whatever, but I /wish/ I had the fortune of getting to actually build this stuff for class, instead of boring web development every single day.

lispisok 3y ago
CS programs have been moving away from computer science education and moving towards teaching how to make webapps because students are more interested in resume development to get a job than getting an education and universities want their tuition dollars. Given the cost of college and the realities of the job market I cant blame the students either.
all2 3y ago
My last semester was marked by operating systems (Unix V6, which you can find the C code for still floating around) and interpreters - in which we implemented a simple python like language called "Wumbo".
sentfromrevolut 3y ago
[dead]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

poulsbohemian 3y ago

So here's a question: Why aren't students doing these things, in either high school or college, regardless of what's being taught in our institutions? I'm fairly certain we built a scientific calculator in pascal while I was still in high school and then did it again in college in C++ or maybe other languages. Building a simple http server 25+ years ago wasn't exactly novel, so today I would think it would be an appropriate high school level project that a motivated student could do on their own.

sn9 3y ago
Because there's a broader range of things you can make, and the web is the largest source of inspiration so takes up the lion's share of projects contemporary students produce.