Re: U.S. colleges retool programming classes - Yahoo! News

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Andrew Hunt <andy () pragprog com>
Date: May 29, 2007 9:32:08 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: U.S. colleges retool programming classes -  
Yahoo! News


On May 29, 2007, at 5:09 PM, David Farber wrote:

> Maybe because their education was complete crap?

(my background:  I authored a best-selling book on programming that  
"filled in the gaps" left from college/university courses, and now I  
own a popular publishing company in the same vein).

A couple of points here.

We do not need more "computer scientists."  We need some, certainly,  
but not a lot.  Some folks to teach, some folks for compiler design,  
and we're done.  Most of what you learn in a typical CS curriculum is  
not actually useful in the day-to-day world of commercial  
programming, hence the OP's observation that "what they learned in  
college was crap."  No, it's not crap--- it's just not applicable  
most of the time.

What we need are software engineers.  Some colleges have started  
offering Software Engineering degrees which cover at least the basics  
of getting functioning software out the door successfully.  Many of  
these programs are still lacking, but it's a start.

Noted professor and Distinguished Engineer at IBM Research Dick  
Gabriel has a great presentation where he outlines the relative  
effort needed to earn a PhD in CS vs. a MBA in poetry.  The  
difference he saw was staggering: for a CS degree, he only had to  
write a handful of simple programs; for the MBA, he had to write a  
poem a day for a year or two, and so on.

I try hard to produce books and related materials that are actually  
useful to practitioners in the field, and every week for the last  
eight years I get mail thanking us for our efforts, and asking, "why  
don't they teach this stuff in school?"

And that's a good question.  Why not, indeed?

/\ndy


  Andy Hunt, Publisher, The Pragmatic Bookshelf
             Practical Books for Pragmatic Programmers
  web: http://www.PragmaticBookshelf.com   email:  
andy () PragmaticBookshelf com






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