Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!emory!hubcap!billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu
From: billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu (William Thomas Wolfe, 2847 )
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Languages & cultures
Message-ID: <8440@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Date: 20 Mar 90 16:12:39 GMT
References: <2605a117.396e@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Sender: news@hubcap.clemson.edu
Reply-To: billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu
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From jdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck):
> I really think that those who are opposed to C, pointers, and all that
> goes with it, are more motivated by a desire to have programming done
> by grunt laborers in a DP shop environment, and have better productivity
> than has been had in the past with Cobol and Basic.  Those who like
> C are more of the craftsman type that like to produce finely wrought
> masterpieces.

   As one of the people opposed to C, pointers, and all that goes with
   it, (and very much preferring the Mac and Ada over the PC and C, as
   you correctly guessed earlier), I would partially disagree with this.

   Regarding the level of professional skill, it is and has long been 
   my position that professional software engineers should have, at a 
   MINIMUM, a Bachelor's degree (and preferably a Master's degree) in 
   Computer Science and/or Software Engineering.  One of the problems 
   associated with introducing Ada into previously COBOL-dominated 
   workcenters is the need to give the workers enough training to 
   convert them from raw COBOL programmers (with their assumption of 
   operating system dependence, their focus on patching and repatching, 
   their naivete concerning the software lifecycle, and their lack of
   awareness of fundamental principles of Computer Science) into Ada 
   Software Engineers.  This typically requires three training phases: 
   Introduction to Software Engineering, Introduction To Computer Science,
   and finally Software Development using Ada -- a far cry from insisting
   on "grunt laborers"!!

   The difference is between those who recognize the need for programming
   in the large and the economic benefits of operating collectively rather
   than individually, and those who seek to maintain a one-person business
   forever despite its limitations and relative inefficiencies.  Those who
   work in a programming-in-the-large atmosphere are at least as oriented
   toward quality craftsmanship as those who prefer a programming-in-the-
   small environment -- it's just that the former group recognizes the 
   need to work together in order to efficiently produce a higher-quality 
   product, and in order to produce extremely large products which simply
   cannot reasonably be produced in any other way. 


   Bill Wolfe, wtwolfe@hubcap.clemson.edu