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From: crm@romeo.cs.duke.edu (Charlie Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: CS education
Message-ID: <16391@duke.cs.duke.edu>
Date: 8 Dec 89 16:06:26 GMT
References: <7334@hubcap.clemson.edu> <7335@hubcap.clemson.edu> <5899@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Sender: news@duke.cs.duke.edu
Reply-To: crm@romeo.UUCP (Charlie Martin)
Organization: Duke University CS Dept.; Durham, NC
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In article <5899@ubc-cs.UUCP> manis@grads.cs.ubc.ca (Vincent Manis) writes:
>In article <7335@hubcap.clemson.edu>
>billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu writes:
>
>>   Forgot one: the ability to search and utilize the computing literature 
>>               effectively in the process of solving practical problems. 
>
>Taken to the extreme, this goal would result in courses such as
>`Generating and Maintaining MVS Systems': there are still a lot of jobs,
>and still a lot of problems, in the IBM mainframe environment. :-) :-) 
>

No. nonono, nein, nicht wahr, non, iee.

What it ought to do is result in courses like "Operating Systems
Concepts" that explain the ideas, and teach people the language or the
field, so they can find and read those manuals.  It also ought to result
in courses that emphsize the existance of the literature, and require
people to read it, to search through it, and to be able to use it
effectively.

Given the skills Bill talks about, he and I would almost agree: given
that people know how to read the literature effectively, they can find
out anything else they need to know.

I would argue that they need a broader background than Bill imagines.

Unfortunately, a lot of that (it seems to me) is stuff that people ought
to come to college with.  I'm not claiming I did; I don't know how many
people do.  But it doesn't mean that they have to take courses in each
operating system or set of particular products they may have to someday
deal with.
Charlie Martin (crm@cs.duke.edu,mcnc!duke!crm)