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From: elg@usl.UUCP (Eric Lee Green)
Newsgroups: net.cse
Subject: Re: Topics for a Computer Science degree
Message-ID: <923@usl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Sep-86 18:16:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: usl.923
Posted: Tue Sep 16 18:16:39 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 27-Sep-86 11:33:42 EDT
References: <13500008@uiucdcsb> <65@alberta.UUCP> <1642@mcc-pp.UUCP> <905@gilbbs.UUCP>
Reply-To: elg@usl.UUCP (Eric Lee Green)
Organization: USL, Lafayette, La.
Lines: 44
Summary: 

In article <905@gilbbs.UUCP> mc68020@gilbbs.UUCP writes:
>
[he states my general thoughts, that a programmer should have some
idea of what hardware does, then:]

>2)  People whose goal is to become *programmers* should go to the Control 
>    Data Institute, or some such equivalent trade school, where they will

Actually, I think one of the biggest problems is that people are NOT
learning how to program. At some schools, one can graduate with honors
without ever having to write a program more sophisticated than "Hello
World".  And the results are sometimes ludicrous. I remember some of
the AI/Cognitive Science guys presenting all sorts of fuzzy fuddled
ideas that were in no shape or form capable of being modeled by
current machines. A whole generation of researchers seems to have
digressed into abstract thinking as their sole form of thought, and
have no idea how to turn their neat idea into a neat hack.

>3)  Probably the single most important are of computer sciences right now is
>    in research.  We desparately need qualified COmputer Scientists (as opposed
>    to mere programmers) to conduct the research which is going to move us 
>    into the next few generations of computing.  If we don't stop confusing
>    CS curricula with FPA curricula, we are going to fall behind the Japanese

Sounds like the above problem. Research requires abstract knowledge
and the ability to think. Computer science research, however, involves
one more thing: mapping that thought onto either real or imagined
hardware. That was the breakthrough of the Turing Machine -- Turing
took an abstract concept, counting theory, and mapped it onto a
machine. Basically, that is one of the primary differences between CS
and Math. 

I do agree with the thoughts about Freshman and Sophomore curriculums,
however. For example, asking students to recognize an expression,
without first teaching them something about finite state recognizers
and other theory of that nature, is simply ludicrous. You're teaching
the students to just sit down at the terminal and fiddle around till
something works, you're not teaching them Computer Science.
-- 

      Eric Green {akgua,ut-sally}!usl!elg
        (Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191, Lafayette, LA 70509)

  -- Tengo lo mismo que doy y solo sirve al presente.