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From: st122@sdcc12.UUCP (st122)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: EE classes a waste to CS
Message-ID: <690@sdcc12.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Sep-86 22:12:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcc12.690
Posted: Fri Sep 12 22:12:17 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Sep-86 10:17:09 EDT
Organization: U.C. San Diego, Academic Computer Center
Lines: 56
Keywords: Wake up to reality!

I am expert computer scientist specializing in systems management,
software engineering, and communications interfacing.  I have
been in the field for 8 years and know 6 languages
(Fortran, C, Pascal, Basic, Assembly (z-80, 8088, PDP-11/lsi,
cal 16d) and ada), have worked with everything from unix to mdos, 
and in addition have built (and partially designed) a variable
ten-step waverform polyphonic synthesizer.  I have written
everything from video games, to word processors, to missle
simulations, to 3-d graphics, to real time energy control.

Having stated a few of my qualifications I would just like
to say "WAKE UP", you don't need hardly any electronics or
engineering classes to be an expert programmer
  The two
fields can easily be seperately defined and in many fields
can be mutually exclusive.  Although most engineering students
will need the aid of computers in their work, it is highly
doubtful that computer scientists will need engineering classes
such as Electricity and Magnetism, circuit design or whatever
wherever they may go.  I was the soul computer scientist for
a group in Radar Defense at Teledyne Ryan Electronics.  At the
time I only knew the concept of a battery and how to make a
lightbulb work by connecting it to the battery's two poles.
I was promoted with a substatial raise after two months with
the company, strictly due to my performance.  The point is
not to be arrogant but to offer proof that you don't need
to know hardly anything about electronics to be a "hot"
software engineer.  If you want to design computers, FINE,
GET A DEGREE IN COMPUTER ENGINEERING!  Computer Software
is a ligimate field, and anyone who doesn't think so has
a strict problem with reality.  You will very rarely need
hardware skills in the computer field as a software 
designer.  You can easily understand io devices and how
to optimise data communication links with very little 
hardware knowledge (you can study the manuals of the
hardware you are concerned and learn all you need to know).  

Now being quite good with electronics (evidence: my synthesizer)
I still insist that the knowledge helps very little for such tasks
as disk i/o optimization, program optimization, and certainly not
systems management.  Hardware is for hardware people.  PLEASE
DON'T INSIST THAT EVERYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN COMPUTER
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING BE STUCK STUDYING BORING PHYSICS, 
Circuit design, or even Chemistry (as with UCSD CE program).
Dr. Kenneth Bowles, designer of the UCSD P-system and now
with Telesoft, Inc. holds this same view.  Computer Science
is a ligitimate field and should not be confused with EE.
Those of you who want to know more about electronics and
every nor gate, or cmos chip device, the more power to 
you.  BUT STOP INFLICTING YOUR IDEAS OF WHAT COMPUTER 
SCIENCE PEOPLE MUST DO BEYOND SOFTWARE.  Software engineering
is intensive enough without having to analyze the magnetic
fields present a transformer.  Allowing software people 
to really learn and practice software necessitates many
years of just software practice.

Frank Bellucci (UCSD Energy Management, st122@sdcc12)