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From: jharkins@sagpd1.UUCP (Jim Harkins)
Newsgroups: comp.sw.components,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Maintenance
Message-ID: <528@sagpd1.UUCP>
Date: 13 Nov 89 16:35:24 GMT
References: <1337@accuvax.nwu.edu> <11064@cbnews.ATT.COM> <78584@linus.UUCP>
Reply-To: jharkins@sagpd1.UUCP (Jim Harkins)
Organization: Scientific Atlanta, Government Products Div, San Diego, CA
Lines: 25

In article <78584@linus.UUCP> mitchell@community-chest.UUCP (George Mitchell) writes:
>In article <11064@cbnews.ATT.COM> kww@cbnews.ATT.COM
>(Kevin W. Wall,55212,cb,1B329,6148604775) writes:       `Just once I'd
>`like to see a homework assignment in some CS course be something like
>`
>`	"add features X and Y to this 60,000 software system (which the
>`	students have never seen before) and turn it in next week".
>
>Would someone (or more) please address why this is not done.

Because the first thing the students would do is print out the entire source
and the university doesn't want to spend $30 for paper and $15 for a printer
ribbon.  I'm not kidding, I try to always have up-to-date source listings
in notebooks for whatever I'm working on, it makes life much easier. 
Not to mention the disk space required to hold x copies of the source
(you expect students to use links?), and CPU time required to compile all
those changes.

Not that it isn't a good idea, I think it's a great idea.  But not practical
for universities as they are currently set up.  Hell, the UNIX system I have
to use at school now doesn't even have a debugger (the vender never got around
to porting it before going toes up) so how would you debug it?

jim
"Wolverine -- sex and violence without the sex"