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That is what I dislike about Computer Science course ( BSc ) and much prefer Computer Engineering ( BEng ). There are far too many abstraction involves that mos

by ksec 2y ago

That is what I dislike about Computer Science course ( BSc ) and much prefer Computer Engineering ( BEng ). There are far too many abstraction involves that most people just remember or know the skills set of the abstraction layer without ever understanding how that abstraction comes into the field in the first place. Over the past 10 years the media has have popularised the term First Principle often spoke about by Elon Musk ( He didn't invent the term but media help to spread it ). And this is precisely it. And this isn't just computer but literally every single subject taught are now about the grade and not the "WHY". We just dont know how most things are derived from. We just memorise it and society will reward you with Certificate and a "Smart" status. In Maths Richard Feynman [1] explaining mathematics in 4 pages from algebra to calculus. As the saying goes, I dont have time to write you a short letter, So I wrote a long one. Getting something simple and concise in 4 pages is the work of genius and takes a lot of time. I only wish something like this exists for all other subject with video course, completely free of charge in dozens of languages to kids all around the world. [1] https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_22.html https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_22.html

default-kramer 2y ago
When I think of "Computer Science" I definitely think that it respects "build great things from a small set of first principles" as much as any field. In fact, I might argue that CS is just a subset of pure math. It's those pesky Computer Engineering concerns, warts like memory locality and branch prediction, that make CS "less pure" than it could have been :) [no offense to CE, I personally love those warts] > most people just remember or know the skills set of the abstraction layer without ever understanding how that abstraction comes into the field in the first place This sounds like you're describing pragmatic software development, or "software engineering" if you insist on sounding fancy. My degree was in SE and in retrospect I would have enjoyed CS more, but it really didn't matter in the long run. But I digress... the point is: a course that focuses on using an abstraction is a programming/SE course, whereas a course that focuses on the principles one might use to build such an abstraction is a CS course.

by ksec 2y ago

default-kramer 2y ago

When I think of "Computer Science" I definitely think that it respects "build great things from a small set of first principles" as much as any field. In fact, I might argue that CS is just a subset of pure math. It's those pesky Computer Engineering concerns, warts like memory locality and branch prediction, that make CS "less pure" than it could have been :) [no offense to CE, I personally love those warts] > most people just remember or know the skills set of the abstraction layer without ever understanding how that abstraction comes into the field in the first place This sounds like you're describing pragmatic software development, or "software engineering" if you insist on sounding fancy. My degree was in SE and in retrospect I would have enjoyed CS more, but it really didn't matter in the long run. But I digress... the point is: a course that focuses on using an abstraction is a programming/SE course, whereas a course that focuses on the principles one might use to build such an abstraction is a CS course.