4 ms·

Reminds me of how a significant number of students entering our CS program don't know what a file is. Lots of them never had to knowingly interact with such a t

by beej71 2y ago

Reminds me of how a significant number of students entering our CS program don't know what a file is. Lots of them never had to knowingly interact with such a thing.

mtillman 2y ago
A little strange you’d even want to be in a CS program if you didn’t understand files. I recently heard they stopped teaching C in some of the more well known CS programs too.
- looofooo0 2y ago
  How can you understand files without a file system.
  - bee_rider 2y ago
    I mean, I guess we’d have to define “understand files” and “understand a filesystem.” I mean, lots of people seem to think of files as popping in and out of Documents or Downloads based on semi-mysterious circumstances.
- dharmab 2y ago
  Maybe they are interested in making mobile apps, or video games.
looofooo0 2y ago
Lol, I dont know what a file is tbf without further restrictions.
ziddoap 2y ago
>don't know what a file is Surely this is a wild exaggeration? If you said "CLI" I would believe it... But they would have had to download/upload a file to apply to the university, create a resume, post a meme to reddit, move pictures from their phone to their computer, etc.
- dharmab 2y ago
  I've heard this too. Specifically they won't know what a hierarchical filesystem is, and their understanding of files is based on iOS/android where you can do many of those actions directly from the share menu without ever interacting with the underlying file or the Files app.
- LPisGood 2y ago
  Well that’s a resume, a meme, and a picture. A file, much less a directory, is a more abstract concept that a lot of young people don’t grok.
- ivewonyoung 2y ago
  > post a meme to reddit, move pictures from their phone to their computer Not sure about the others, but most are about consuming memes(or searching for a gif to post), the typical poster to viewer percentage is only about 1% to 2% on places like Reddit. Also, why would they move pictures from their phone to their computer(assuming they even have a personal PC and not a school issued Chromebook)? They do everything they need to with the image on the phone.
  - ziddoap 2y ago
    Those were two examples I thought up in about 4 seconds. Switch "post a meme" to "download a meme", or whatever. My point is that they have very obviously interacted with, moved, copied, and deleted files.
- zer8k 2y ago
  Not an exaggeration, I can confirm OPs story at my own university. When I was in school (2010) the first year had a drop out rate of over 80%. The first class took out over 50%. Many people didn’t have any idea how to use a computer at all. The other weed out was after all the math classes. Professionally I’ve been in charge of interviewing foreign candidates from those headhunter type programs. I’ve legitimately interviewed people who claimed years and years of experience but had no measurable computer experience. My high school aged family has next to no idea how to do anything on a computer but use a browser.
gwd 2y ago
Really? When I was a freshman in the 90's, I had a friend whose problem was that every other person in the class had (like me) already been programming for years. He transferred to a different engineering discipline and graduated with a 3.7, so not an incapable guy. If that's true, it's a massive change.
- lucyjojo 2y ago
  cs used to be for people who loved computers before it became a default carrier. so it's not really surprising.
avhception 2y ago
We get resumes from people claiming "excellent computer skills", some of them using the word "digital native" - and they are completely dumbfounded and will stare blankly at the screen when their job in accounting needs them to copy a file from their desktop to some network drive on their Windows PCs.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  I remember being asked why Google called its product "Google Drive" since it has nothing to do with driving a car. Honestly, I have to admit, it was a good question. Computer nerds take for granted that the word "drive" means "hard drive" but the general public doesn't necessarily make this word association.

by beej71 2y ago

Reminds me of how a significant number of students entering our CS program don't know what a file is. Lots of them never had to knowingly interact with such a thing.

mtillman 2y ago

A little strange you’d even want to be in a CS program if you didn’t understand files. I recently heard they stopped teaching C in some of the more well known CS programs too.

looofooo0 2y ago
How can you understand files without a file system.
- bee_rider 2y ago
  I mean, I guess we’d have to define “understand files” and “understand a filesystem.” I mean, lots of people seem to think of files as popping in and out of Documents or Downloads based on semi-mysterious circumstances.
dharmab 2y ago
Maybe they are interested in making mobile apps, or video games.

looofooo0 2y ago

Lol, I dont know what a file is tbf without further restrictions.

ziddoap 2y ago

>don't know what a file is Surely this is a wild exaggeration? If you said "CLI" I would believe it... But they would have had to download/upload a file to apply to the university, create a resume, post a meme to reddit, move pictures from their phone to their computer, etc.

dharmab 2y ago
I've heard this too. Specifically they won't know what a hierarchical filesystem is, and their understanding of files is based on iOS/android where you can do many of those actions directly from the share menu without ever interacting with the underlying file or the Files app.
LPisGood 2y ago
Well that’s a resume, a meme, and a picture. A file, much less a directory, is a more abstract concept that a lot of young people don’t grok.
ivewonyoung 2y ago
> post a meme to reddit, move pictures from their phone to their computer Not sure about the others, but most are about consuming memes(or searching for a gif to post), the typical poster to viewer percentage is only about 1% to 2% on places like Reddit. Also, why would they move pictures from their phone to their computer(assuming they even have a personal PC and not a school issued Chromebook)? They do everything they need to with the image on the phone.
- ziddoap 2y ago
  Those were two examples I thought up in about 4 seconds. Switch "post a meme" to "download a meme", or whatever. My point is that they have very obviously interacted with, moved, copied, and deleted files.
zer8k 2y ago
Not an exaggeration, I can confirm OPs story at my own university. When I was in school (2010) the first year had a drop out rate of over 80%. The first class took out over 50%. Many people didn’t have any idea how to use a computer at all. The other weed out was after all the math classes. Professionally I’ve been in charge of interviewing foreign candidates from those headhunter type programs. I’ve legitimately interviewed people who claimed years and years of experience but had no measurable computer experience. My high school aged family has next to no idea how to do anything on a computer but use a browser.

gwd 2y ago

Really? When I was a freshman in the 90's, I had a friend whose problem was that every other person in the class had (like me) already been programming for years. He transferred to a different engineering discipline and graduated with a 3.7, so not an incapable guy. If that's true, it's a massive change.

lucyjojo 2y ago
cs used to be for people who loved computers before it became a default carrier. so it's not really surprising.

avhception 2y ago

We get resumes from people claiming "excellent computer skills", some of them using the word "digital native" - and they are completely dumbfounded and will stare blankly at the screen when their job in accounting needs them to copy a file from their desktop to some network drive on their Windows PCs.

ryandrake 2y ago
I remember being asked why Google called its product "Google Drive" since it has nothing to do with driving a car. Honestly, I have to admit, it was a good question. Computer nerds take for granted that the word "drive" means "hard drive" but the general public doesn't necessarily make this word association.