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I seem to remember this specific class at the CMU School of Computer Science being described as a “weed-out class”.
by Ifkaluva 10mo ago
I seem to remember this specific class at the CMU School of Computer Science being described as a “weed-out class”.
- MangoToupe 10mo agoTheory is certainly a weed-out class. I think algorithms is certainly more difficult for a dedicated student tho.
- wrs 10mo agoWhen I took the theory of computation class at CMU in the mid-80s it was in the philosophy department. The professor knew almost nothing about actual computers. Which was pretty cool, honestly.
- arethuza 10mo ago"Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." Usually attributed to Dijkstra.
- hearsathought 10mo ago> When I took the theory of computation class at CMU in the mid-80s it was in the philosophy department. To be fair, theory of computation is more logic/proofs/formalism than what is mistakenly associated with CS nowadays - programming. Besides isn't everything just philosophy at the end of that day? > The professor knew almost nothing about actual computers. The foundations of theory of computation were laid before actual computers. > Which was pretty cool, honestly. I can't imagine my philosophy professors teaching theory of computation as they too didn't know anything about computers. But I'm sure they would have made it interesting.
- anthk 10mo ago>philosophy at the end of the day More like DIscrete Math
- sota_pop 10mo agoI always thought it should be called “ComputING Science” as opposed to “ComputER Science”.
- awefpojoi 10mo agoIt is indeed a weed-out class for the CS majors. It's fairly difficult the whole way through, and the difficulty jump afterwards for required classes is much more manageable. I never struggled with a required CS class after I managed to get an A in this one.
- jtbetz22 10mo agoI am old enough to remember when it was 15-199, taught by Steven Rudich, titled "How to think like a computer scientist". They had to run it for a few years before they realized CS kids who did poorly in the class dropped the major - the implicit signal being "you don't know how to think like a computer scientist".